Emergence
by JazzieG
Summary: Colby is acting strangely, can the team figure out what is going on with their friend? Some bad language, so rated T
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nuffin to do wiv Numb3rs! I just borrowed 'em guv, honest!**

**This follows on from my previous story Oblivion, you don't have to have read that one, but it may help in the long run.**

Prologue

Don looked at his watch, the team were sitting in the war room discussing their latest case, a series of home invasions. That is most of the team were there, one was conspicuous in his absence.

"Anyone spoken to Colby this morning?"

Liz, Megan and David all shook their heads. Everyone was aware that Colby had been late in every morning for the last few weeks, ever since he had returned to work after his long recovery from being hit by a car and buried in a box, something that prior to this was unheard of. Usually he was the first in and last out. Don was angry and worried, but he really didn't have time for this, the investigation was reaching a critical point, they had pictures of the unsubs, but there was no record of them in any database. Don was just about to start without his junior agent when he saw him casually walking through the bull pen. Unbelievably he didn't seem to be in any hurry considering he was 30 minutes late.

"Morning, sorry I'm late." Colby sat down and gave a sheepish smile.

"We'll talk about that later Colby, in the meantime we have some photos of our home invaders taken by a CCTV camera that one of the home owners had installed." Don handed him a file holding the pictures of the 3 unsubs. "I want you and David to go back to the neighbourhood currently being targeted and see if anyone recognises them."

David nodded and got up to leave, indicating to his partner that he should follow. They walked to the elevators and down to the parking garage, neither said a word. As soon as they were in the car David turned to him.

"What's up with you man, you've been late every morning for days?"

"Nothing. Traffic in LA is a bitch."

"Oh come on, don't give me that crap, something is going on with you. Don isn't going to let you get away with this much longer."

"Get away with what, exactly, David? So I've been late, it makes up for all those mornings I got in before all of you. Lets just do our jobs shall we?"

David looked at his partner, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He and Colby had disagreed before, but never had his friend been so curt with him. Turning in his seat he started the car and they drove in silence, not their usual comfortable silence, the air could have been cut with a knife.

On the way to the area in which the home invasions had been carried out Colby finally opened the file Don had handed him. He flipped through the photos, when he got to the last one he almost swore, but just managed to stop himself. He didn't want David to know he recognised the man in the picture. This was Carter all over again, except this guy had been a high school friend, Steve Jones, they hadn't seen each other since Colby had gone into the army. He had to track him down and see what the hell he thought he was doing, he had always been a good guy, he had obviously got in with the wrong crowd. He couldn't exactly speak to the team about this, he was already in enough trouble with them, he would track the man down, speak to him and then bring him in, try to help if he could.

David and Colby spent the day walking the streets surrounding the last home invasion. They showed the pictures of the 3 men to anyone they met, but nobody had seen them. After a fruitless day out in the heat the 2 men returned to the car and drove back to the office, again in total silence. When Colby got back to his desk he logged on to his computer and started trying to track his high school buddy down. He was still searching when the others got up to leave. Don seeing that Colby was still working away sighed with relief thinking that finally the old Colby was back.

"Don't stay too late Colby, see you 08:00 sharp tomorrow morning."

Colby waved a hand in response. Little did Don know that he would be seeing his youngest team member earlier than that.

* * *

Colby ended up calling home to get the information he needed, his Mom put him in touch with Steve's who in turn gave him her son's address in LA. Picking up his jacket and securing his gun at his back he left the office and went to the address he had been given. He knocked and waited, when it opened Steve smiled.

"Colby Granger? Is that really you?"

"Yeah, hey man. Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure. How'd you know I was in LA?"

"That's what I need to talk to you about. You know I'm an FBI agent right?"

"Yeah, Mom told me."

"Your picture came up in an investigation. I want to hear your side of things before I decide what to do about it."

"Wow, you don't say." Steve tried to feign ignorance.

"Steve, I know you're part of these home invasions, just tell me how you managed to get mixed up in it and maybe I can help."

Before Steve could respond there was a loud bang and the room suddenly filled with armed men. "LAPD, hands on your head."

Oh shit, this was bad, Don was gonna kill him. Well he knew something like this was going to have to happen sooner or later, but he really had hoped he'd have more time. Sighing he put his hands on his head.

"I'm an FBI Agent."

One of the SWAT officers moved forward to check his credentials and nodded to his team leader, who in turn indicated he should lower his hands.

"What are you doing here Agent…?"

"Agent Granger. Steve is an old school friend. What's he done?"

"He is suspected of being involved with a gang of armed robbers."  
Colby turned to look at Steve and shook his head, raising an eyebrow in surprise, at least that reaction was genuine, he didn't know about the armed robberies. "That's news to me Lieutenant."

"That may be, but I'm going to need you to come down the station with us."

"Sure, no problem." Colby followed the Lieutenant out and was shown to a patrol car in which he was driven to LAPD headquarters. He was then shown to an interview room.

"Going to need to contact your supervisor Agent Granger. Can we have a name?"

"Agent Don Eppes." Oh man, not even ten at night and Don was going to get called back out. Not good.

* * *

Colby co-operated with LAPD, and after Don came to the station and verified who he was they released him with a word of caution that they would need to speak to him again. Colby followed Don out to his SUV, he hadn't said two words to him, it was worse than getting shouted at.

Taking a deep breath Don said. "I don't want to talk about this tonight, we will go and collect your car, you will come into work for 08:00 tomorrow morning, not a minute later, and we will talk about this then. Am I clear?"  
"Crystal."

The rest of the journey was made in silence. Colby knew he was going to have to get used to not talking to Don, but it was going to be hard. He retrieved his car and went back to his apartment, filled with trepidation about what would await him in the morning.

* * *

The next morning Colby was in with five minutes to spare, he knew that his life was about to get more complicated, so was Don's.

Don was already sitting at his desk and when he saw Colby coming out of the elevator he stood up and motioned for him to follow as he walked to a conference room. Colby followed without question, as he always had until a few weeks ago. He walked passed Megan, Liz and David, he didn't look at them, he couldn't. If he did then he wouldn't go through with what he needed to, entering the conference room he gently closed the door behind him.

"What the fuck is going on with you?" Before Colby could respond Don continued, he was livid. "How could you not tell us that you recognised one of the men in the photos? Do you have any idea of what a tight spot you have put me in?"

"He's an old high school friend Don, I wanted to help him."

"The same way you helped Carter? Didn't you learn anything?" Don was shouting at him. Colby knew it was justified, but he kept pushing Don's buttons.

"Hang on a minute, don't throw that back in my face! You can't bring that up every time you disagree with something I have done." Colby started to raise his voice.

"Disagree? I don't just disagree Colby, you've crossed the line and this time there is no undercover operation to cover your arse! You had no god damn right to mess with our case."

"I wasn't messing with it."

"You have compromised weeks of investigation, not just for us but for LAPD. I told you if you messed up again you'd be in jail, well you haven't done anything to warrant that, we can't arrest you for criminally poor judgement." Don took a breath, unable to quite believe what he was about to say. "You're fired. Get your stuff and get out."

Colby knew it was coming, he deserved it, but his heart still stopped for a second and then sank, but he knew what he had to do. "Fired? Oh that's great, I put my life on hold for 2 years for this god damn job and now you're firing me? Do you know what Don, you can stick you're job, I've had it with duty, honour and following orders." He left his gun, badge and credentials on the table and walked out of the conference room. He had some stuff in a locker but he couldn't face going through the office to get it so he headed straight to the elevators, he could feel the eyes of all the other agents in the office boring into his back, you could hear a pin drop in the normally noisy office.

He got on the elevator and turned. As he glanced back into the office for the last time he saw Don, David, Megan and Liz standing in a group, their eyes filled with confusion.

"I'm sorry." He mouthed as the doors closed.


	2. No Way

**Disclaimer: I own nowt Numb3rs related.**

**A/N: Wow, guys, thanks for the reviews and alerts, I'm quite overwhelmed! I am now extremely nervous about posting the coming chapters, but I will try not to disappoint. Any constructive feedback welcomed!**

**I have probably taken some liberties along the way, so I'll apologise now, hope you enjoy.**

Chapter One – No way.

David turned to Don. "What just happened?"

"I had to fire him."

"You had no choice Don." Megan backed her boss all the way.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Sighed Don.

"I just don't get it. Why would he throw his career away like that?" Liz was as confused as everyone else.

"I need to speak to him."

"That's not a good idea David."

"Megan, he's my friend, I have to hear from him what happened."  
"David, you can't. There will be an internal investigation, he knew a suspect in a case and didn't say anything, there will be questions about just how much he knew."

"Hang on, you think he had something to do with the home invasions or the armed robberies that LAPD are investigating? No way!"

"No, I don't think he had anything to do with that, but you have to admit he's changed, just look at his behaviour over the last 3 weeks, coming in late, barely an apology. I cut him some slack because he had been on medical leave for 4 months, but I can't ignore this, it was a massive breach in protocol."

"You would have changed too if you had spent the best part of the last year being stalked only to have it end in being hit by a car then buried alive in a box!"

"Look, I understand you're angry, hell I am too, but he left me no choice." Don turned away from his team, he needed to speak to AD Wright, he had already had his ear chewed off by him this morning, now he needed to let him know that he had done as ordered.

"I need some air." David stated and left to spend some time processing what had just happened.

* * *

Colby unlocked his apartment door and slammed it behind him then threw his keys across his sitting room. He didn't want this. Why did they have to pick him? He wanted to go back four weeks and tell the ADIC and Chief of Police to shove it.

_Colby was sitting on his sofa watching nothing much on the TV. He was bored, he had been off work for nearly 4 months and couldn't wait to go back next week, get back with the team, back to normal._

_The buzzer for his door entry system went, he wondered who it could be and thought about not answering, but it might be one of his friends so he pulled himself from his comfortable position and picked up his door entry phone._

"_Who is it?"_

"_Agent Granger, it's ADIC Wright, can I come up please?"_

"_Er, sure sir." Oh boy, what had he done now. He pressed the button that released the outer door and then unlocked his apartment door and waited. ADIC Wright was not alone. He was accompanied by a large man, probably in his 50's, he had authority written all over him. Damn, he was in real trouble._

"_Agent Granger, don't look so worried, this is Chief of Police, Leonard Drummond." Colby stepped back admitting the two men into his inner sanctum and shook hands with the Chief of Police._

"_Please, come in and sit down, can I get you anything?" He may have been stunned to have these two men in his home, but his Mom had taught him some manners._

"_No, thank you, we need to talk to you and it's urgent." AD Wright informed him settling himself on the sofa._

"_Um, OK." Colby seated himself in an armchair opposite them and waited, if he'd had any idea of the bombshell they were about to drop into his life he wouldn't have let them in._

"_What we are about to tell you can go no further than this room. I have to make that clear from the start."_

_Colby's heart sank, this was not good, a conversation that started that way could only mean bad news though he wasn't sure how this involved him, however he nodded._

"_We need you to go undercover for us."_

"_W..wh..what?" Never in a million years did he think it would be __**that **__bad._

_AD Wright turned to the Police Chief. "Leonard, why don't you explain?"_

"_Agent Granger, may I call you Colby?"_

_No you may bloody not, was what he thought, what he said was. "Of course, Sir."_

"_Colby, we have a situation within LAPD, we have some rotten apples and I need to weed them out, to do that I need your help."_

_Mixed metaphors aside the man had Colby's attention, but for the life of him he wished he didn't. "I'm listening."_

"_You may have heard rumours of a new gang in town, I hate to say it, but it's true. They are still extremely small but they're selling guns. Not just handguns, Colby, but machine guns and rocket launchers. They may only be a few at the moment, but they are hardcore and mark my words they are going to try to take over the territory of other gangs. You know what that means."  
"Turf wars." Colby said grimly._

_Nodding the Chief carried on. "That's bad enough, but we think they are getting help from inside LAPD. I need a man to infiltrate the gang and try to find out who it is. That man is you."_

"_Why me? Putting aside the fact that I've just had the year from hell and want to get back to working with Agent Eppes and the team, all of Law Enforcement know I was a triple agent, nobody is going to accept me into a gang, especially if, as you suspect, there is someone from LAPD involved."_

"_You are the best man for the job Colby." Chimed in AD Wright. "You proved yourself during your 2 years undercover for Counter Intelligence."_

"_Sir, and I say this with all due respect, no bloody way. I am not putting my life on hold like that again. Due to my previous undercover work I don't think it would work and you would be signing my death warrant."_

"_Colby, we've thought about this very carefully, with the right cover story we could make it work."_

"_Right cover story? This I have to hear!" He didn't mean to be disrespectful, but really?!_

"_You will return to Agent Eppes' team as expected next week, over the coming weeks you will start to pull away from the team, you are disillusioned after all you've been through, culminating in your leaving under a dark cloud."_

"_Don and the team won't buy it."_

"_It will be up to you to sell it to them."_

"_It would take more than me being a pain in the arse for them to buy that."_

"_We can arrange for something else to happen."_

"_Like what?"_

"_We happen to know about an old school friend of yours who is involved in the home invasions your team are investigating. You will keep it from the team, we'll get LAPD to arrest him when you go to speak to him about it and Agent Eppes will have no choice but to fire you for a breach of protocol."_

"_Again, no, I'm sorry Sir, but what you're asking of me is impossible, not to mention unfair. I was promised that when the Chinese farce was done with I could go back to being a plain ole FBI Agent."_

"_Part of being an FBI Agent, if you don't mind me saying so AGENT Granger, is following orders."_

"_Wait, are you telling me that I have no choice?"_

"_I am telling you that an Agent could find himself assigned to the arse end of nowhere."_

"_Sir, you really aren't selling me on the idea either way, arse end of nowhere is better than dead with a needle in my chest, again." Colby resisted the urge to roll his eyes._

_Chief Drummond felt this wasn't going his way, he really needed Agent Granger's help and AD Wright wasn't making it any easier, he spoke up. "Colby, I understand this is a lot to take in, but there is nobody else."_

"_Chief Drummond, Sir, really, in the whole of LAPD and the FBI, I'm the only one?"_

"_We can't use any LAPD officers, we don't know who is involved, I am the only person at LAPD who knows about this operation. As for the FBI, we need someone with undercover experience, with a strong knowledge of weaponry. Between your time with the FBI and Army CID you have that. I need you to at least think about this, please?"_

"_I think you would be better using someone out of one of the other offices, someone who is not known to LAPD officers and gang members alike."_

"_One of the reasons we chose you is because you know the local area and the players."_

"_Hell, send in David." He sent up a silent apology for trying to land his partner in the line of fire._

"_We thought of that, he's a fantastic agent with a long career ahead of him, but we need someone who is a bit, er, how can I put it?" The AD paused, grappling for the right words. "Less by the book."_

"_Sir, I have always played things by the book." He knew it was a white lie, but he did always try._

"_Is that what you call sleeping with a potential witness?" The AD raised an eyebrow._

_Shit, how had he found out about that. He was being backed into a corner, and he didn't like it._

"_If, and it's a big if, I did this, the team have to be told. I will not lie to them again."_

"_No." Asserted AD Wright._

"_Absolutely not." Chief Drummond added._

"_Then I won't do it."_

"_Colby, you would put yourself at great risk if you told them. The only people that know about this operation right now are myself and AD Wright. The more people that are told the greater risk of your cover being blown."_

_He realised they were right, but he didn't like this one bit. "I need time to think about this."_

"_Of course you do, we'll come back tomorrow." Replied the AD._

_Colby's mouth dropped open. 24 hours to decide what course his life was going to take, were these men mad?_

"_Sorry, but we can't give you any more time. We need to get this op off the ground before the gang gets bigger, it will get harder to infiltrate the bigger it gets."_

_Both men got up and left Colby sitting stunned. "We'll let ourselves out, I'll be in touch tomorrow."_

_Was he really going to do this? Man, what a choice. Go undercover, again, or end up in the arse end of nowhere as the AD had so eloquently put it, he had no doubt that the threat was real, or of course the third possibility was to quit, but then what would he do? Which ever way he thought about it his time with the team was finished. Damn it. What about the team? They said he couldn't tell them because it would put him in danger, but he needed them to know. In his heart he knew they'd forgiven him for the whole triple agent thing, but he doubted they'd forgive him lying to them again. If he went along with this, oh god, he was going to do it wasn't he, then he would do it his way, FBI and LAPD protocols be damned. He knew there was no way any of the team would tell anyone else, they would never do anything to put him in danger. He would just have to figure out the best way to do it without getting them all into a lot of trouble, he didn't want to lose the team their jobs as well._

_The next day when the AD dropped by Colby gave him his answer. "I'll do it, but I'm not happy at the way you have gone about this, Sir."_

"_I understand that, but we had to do anything we could to get you to agree. We'll start to put the plan into action to get you fired, it will be about a month or so before it happens."  
"Well that's something to look forward to." Stated Colby sarcastically._

"_Just make sure you start off on the wrong foot once you get back into the office next week." With that the AD left._

_Colby could now spend the next week worrying about how he was going to pull this off convincingly. He knew he would need to wait until after Don had fired him before he could tell the team otherwise they would try to talk him out of it. Once he was in play they'd have no choice but to go along with it._

Colby put his head in his hands at the memory of how he had been more or less conned into taking this assignment. He needed to figure out the best way to tell the team what was going on, and soon. He had thought of one way he could do it, but he was sure the AD and Chief would not be amused at how he was going to make a splash in the LA gang scene. They wanted him to slip in quietly and unobtrusively, but he had told them, in no uncertain terms, that if he was going to do this, he was going to have to make a big noise about turning 'dark side' as he put it. That noise would involve some information from them about the players, then he would pick his mark and see where it would lead him.

* * *

This was it, this was the day he was going to make his mark on the LA gang scene, well at least he hoped it was. If he had judged this even slightly wrong then he was likely to end up in a coffin for real. He watched his target, one Adam Archer. The man had sandy blonde hair and was muscular but slim. He was new to LA and seemed to be quite far up the food chain as far as the new gang were concerned. Colby also knew that LAPD and the FBI were running a joint gang task force and that the FBI contingent was being supervised by Special Agent Don Eppes. LAPD was being led by Lieutenant Gary Walker, a fact that made Colby slightly nervous over what he was about to do. He respected the man and didn't think he'd take kindly to having an ex-FBI agent going slightly nuts at one of his suspects. He looked around and easily spotted the FBI and LAPD cars, he hoped that the gang members weren't so observant. He sighed heavily and decided if he was ever going to do this now was the time.

He pulled himself up to his full height, rolled his shoulders back and confidently strode across the street, he had his phone in his hand and was pretending to send a text on it, not looking where he was going, or so it would appear to the casual observer. As planned he collided, hard, with Adam Archer.

"Hey man, why doncha watch where the hell you're going?" Demanded Archer.

"Dude, sorry, I didn't see ya."

"How about I make sure the next time you pay more attention?" He snatched Colby's phone, threw it to the floor and stamped on it. "There ya go, that should help." He sneered.

Expecting just this reaction after having researched the man Colby had picked up an old phone he had laying around. He narrowed his eyes at the man before him. "Oh, no, you didn't just do that."

"Yeah I did, whatcha gonna do about it?"  
"Knock your head off your shoulders, that's what."

"Oooo tough guy, you have no idea who you're dealing with."

The guy was all talk and Colby needed to ensure that a scuffle ensued so that he got arrested so rather than respond with words he let his fist do the talking and punched the smug gang banger in the face, full force. The man's nose exploded and blood flowed freely.

"Shit!" Adam was frozen, nobody had ever stood up to him like that, he was kind of at a loss for a moment, then he retaliated, drawing a knife. This was also something that Colby had anticipated, but even so the sight of the blade glinting in the LA sun gave him a moment of pause about the wisdom of his actions, too late now, he was about to become embroiled in a fight with an armed man.

The knife missed him by mere millimetres, but in order for his plan to work he was going to have to allow Adam to save some face.

* * *

Across the road Gary, David and Don had been watching Archer, waiting to see who else he made contact with, they were trying to get an idea of the structure of the gang and how many members there currently were. In the network that Charlie was putting together Archer was six down from the top and could lead them to number five, at least that was their hope, they would then use number five to get to four and so on until they had numero uno in their sights. They would then take down the gang leader thereby collapsing the network.

"Don, is that Colby?" Asked David.

"What? Where?"

"Over there, just coming round the corner, about to cross the road."

"Yeah, it is."

"His apartment is miles away, what's he doing here?"

"Maybe your boy Granger has fallen further than you thought Eppes." Stated Gary, he had been told about what happened, he had to admit he was as surprised as everyone else.

"Don.." Megan's voice came over the radio.

"We've spotted him. Everyone sit tight." Ordered Don. All they could do was watch to see what unfolded before them, Colby was no longer his responsibility.

It was with a sense of disbelief and awe that they watched their former team mate barrel into a known gang member, then with a sense of horror as a knife came out.

"We're going to have to take them Don. Colby is out numbered and Archer has a knife."

"We do and they'll know we've been watching." Warned Gary.

"Give it a minute, if there is any danger of serious injury we'll intervene, but we'll have to be smart about it." Don added, no sooner were the words out of his mouth than Archer's knife caught Colby in his shoulder.


	3. Truth

**Disclaimer: Do not own Numb3rs. If I did no way would the number of episodes have been cut!!**

**A/N: Thanks for the encouragement, so here's another chapter.**

Chapter Two – Truth.

"Don, we have to do something." David said urgently, ready to jump out of the car and go help his friend. Nothing had changed for him, he didn't believe that Colby was what everyone said he was, an agent gone rogue.

"Alright, hang on." Don spoke to the other units over the radio. "All units hold your positions, we're going in." He quickly started the car and took a turn down an alley, this brought him out on the other side of where the scuffle was taking place, holding back with every fibre in his being so as not to blow their whole operation he drove casually down the road, when they were in view and could see clearly what was happening he switched his siren on and pulled up to the kerb, thus allowing it to appear that they were just passing by and happened to see the fight. He hoped it fooled the gang members standing around. Their arrival signalled to the onlookers to make a hasty retreat, and within seconds of arriving there was only Archer and Colby to deal with. The three men in the car jumped out and ran towards the scuffling duo.

* * *

Colby felt the knife cut into his shoulder, this guy was faster than he had given him credit for, still in for a penny in for a pound as the Brits would say. He gave a howl of rage, at least he hoped it sounded like rage and not pain and punched Archer in the stomach, causing him to double over, Colby heard a satisfying whoosh from the man. Off balance when he next came at him with the knife Colby easily side stepped him and the man fell into the gutter, before he could get back up there was the sound of a siren and there was a mass exodus from the area. Ordinarily Colby could have out run any one of the three men dashing towards them, but on this occasion, with blood pouring from the knife wound he wasn't even going to try, he allowed his legs to collapse beneath him, moments later David was by his side whilst Don and Gary cuffed Archer.

"This ain't over man." Snarled Archer in Colby's direction.

"Tell me when and we'll finish this." Retorted Colby.

"Don, we need a medic."

Walker picked up his radio and called it in, also requesting a car to come and pick up Archer.

"Granger, no wonder you were fired from the Bureau, no damn sense." Growled Don.

"Ex-Fed? Man I shoulda known." Archer shook his head as if at his own stupidity.

"Ex being the operative word, we will finish this." Colby glared at the man menacingly.

"Ooo quaking in my boots." Sniggered Archer.

The police car pulled up beside them. "Get him outta here." Walker said to the officer exiting the car. "Book him for carrying a concealed weapon for starters, we'll meet you at the station, I am sure I'll have come up with a few more charges by then."

"Yes LT." Said the officer putting the cuffed Archer, still snarling at Colby, in the back of the car.

Once he was gone this allowed all of them to turn their full attention on Colby, something he was all too aware of. He let his shoulders slump, at least now he didn't have to put on a front for the gang members as they were all now long gone. Man his shoulder was throbbing, he was still managing to sit upright, barely.

"You are some kind of stupid." Walker commented.

"Thanks Lieutenant Walker." Colby could still manage to be a smartarse.

"Eppes, you can deal with him, I might throttle him."

Don had been watching his ex-agent throughout the exchange, the colour was slowly draining out of Colby's face. He was just about to call to find out where the ambulance was when he heard sirens in the distance, he allowed himself a moment of relief before he launched a tirade at Colby.

"What were you thinking?"

"Eh?" Colby asked all wide eyed innocence.

"I don't know what's got into you, but picking a fight with someone who even you can tell is a gang banger has to mean that you need locking up for your own safety."

Colby wanted to tell him here and now what was going on, but he couldn't be sure that someone wouldn't overhear him. He had already decided that if he needed to tell Lieutenant Walker as well, he would, he trusted him as much as his team, but now was not the time, he would need to wait until they could get some privacy at the hospital. Actually he was starting to feel a little light headed from loss of blood so probably better to wait until he was fully compos mentis, though when he told them what was going on he doubted that they would think he was fully compos mentis, he thought to himself wryly.

When Colby didn't respond, Don sighed wearily. He guessed now was not the time to question the man, but they would need a statement from him.

"David, you accompany him to the hospital please, don't let him out of your sight, we at the very least need to take a statement. Gary and I will meet you there." David nodded in acknowledgement, he hadn't said anything as he was a little overwhelmed by the stupidity of Colby's actions, plus he had been busy trying to stop the bleeding from his shoulder. His friend was obviously further gone than they had thought.

The ambulance finally pulled up and a paramedic knelt down in front of a now ghost like Colby. She turned to her colleague who handed her a pressure bandage to assist in stopping the flow of blood. They then helped him to his feet and into the back of the ambulance where they hooked him up to some oxygen and monitors, then inserted an IV to help compensate for the loss of blood. Once the door was closed Don and Gary turned back to their car.

"All units, surveillance completed for today." Don advised over the radio. His phone rang and he answered it, not giving the caller a chance to say anything. "Megan, he's fine, David's going to the hospital with him. I want you and Liz to go back to the office and start going through the pictures we've got and see if you can put names to the faces. Gary and I will go and meet David at the hospital."

"Say hi to him from Liz and I." She said.

"Will do, though not sure how much notice he'll take." He snapped the phone closed and turned to Gary. "Shall we?"

"Oh yeah, I really want to hear what was going through Granger's head."

"Not much would be my guess." Was Don's reply as he started the car and drove to the hospital.

* * *

On arrival at the hospital Colby was taken to a trauma room. The nurse tried to get David to wait outside, but he had his instructions and he wasn't about to let Colby out of his sight.

"Sorry, he is a witness and I need to stay with him." He showed her his FBI ID, she looked from one to the other, shrugged and turned back to her patient. In no time at all she had removed his top and was cleaning the knife wound. "You're a very lucky man."

"Funny, I don't feel very lucky. I definitely feel like someone who was stabbed."

"How can you make light of this man?" Asked David. "If his aim had been better you'd have a knife in the heart."

"I've had worse David."

"I'll need to get the doctor to look at this, it's quite deep. Probably needs stitching." She hurried out in search of a doctor.

"You better hope it's not Doctor Jensen." David warned, this was the doctor that Colby had been seen by on nearly every one of his ER visits, of which there had been a few, over the last year.

"Someone taking my name in vain?" Doctor Jensen appeared round the door. "You're kidding me? Agent's Granger and Sinclair. Long time no see, though, if you don't mind me saying so, not long enough."

"Not Agent Granger any more Doc, just plain ole Colby Granger."

"You've left the FBI?" Asked an astonished Doctor Jensen.

"Actually he was fired." Came Don's voice from behind him.

"Okkkay, I'm not even going to ask, let's have a look at you, shall we?" After a brief poke around Doctor Jensen turned to the nurse. "Yes, lets get this stitched and can you please get a unit of blood typed and cross matched, his pressure is a bit on the low side from loss of blood, lets replace some of it." The nurse hurried from the room and returned a short while later with the equipment needed to stitch the wound, she passed it to the doctor and then hooked up the unit of blood. The wound was stitched and Doctor Jensen looked carefully at Colby. "I'll be back in a couple of hours, give that unit of blood a chance to get into your system, then I'll assess you to see if we need to keep you in." Before his patient could argue he left the room, leaving Colby to the tender mercies of the three men standing watching him.

"Lieutenant Walker, would you be kind enough to close the door please." Colby asked softly. Walker raised one eyebrow but did as he had been asked.

"What were you thinking?" Don erupted.

"There is something you need to know…"

"Really? Like what meds you're taking for your mental instability?"

"Don, please."

"Don't 'Don, please' me." He mocked, pacing the floor agitatedly. "You were fired for pulling that stunt with your friend and then not 2 weeks after that you pull another one like this! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

David laid his hand on Don's arm and caught the senior agent's eye, "C'mon Don, hear him out."

Reining in his anger Don relaxed his tense posture, "Alright, but it better be good, otherwise I'm having Doctor Jensen commit you."

"You aren't going to like this, not one bit, but I have to ask that what we discuss goes no further than this room, with the exception of Megan and Liz. Nobody but the five of you can know. Unless you agree to that stipulation I can say nothing more." He looked at all three men, awaiting, and receiving, nods of consent. "A week before I returned to work I was approached by AD Wright and the LAPD Chief of Police. They asked me to go undercover and try to get in with the new gang."

"Are you insane?" Asked David, incredulously. "How on earth are you going to pull that off, everyone knows you were a triple agent, how are you supposed to convince everyone that you're no longer one of the good guys? Dude, you do need to be committed."

"Well, when I say that I was asked, it was actually more of an order, disguised as a request."

"Are you saying that the Chief and AD gave you no choice?" Asked Gary guardedly.

"Oh, no, they gave me a choice. Go undercover, end up with an assignment in the arse end of nowhere, or quit."

"Not much of a choice." Don said, beginning to understand the reason behind the weeks of odd behaviour.

"No, not really. They knew about my old school friend being involved in our latest case, I don't know how, but they did. They told me that I would go against protocol by not telling you, you'd fire me. I'd tell you to shove it and the seed of my downfall from the FBI pedestal would be planted."

"It worked, but why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I'm not supposed to be telling you now, if the AD or Chief find out that I've told you this then we're all in big trouble. I was ordered not to, but I refuse to lie to you again. I just had to wait until after you'd fired me. I was worried that you wouldn't let me go through with it if I'd told you before."

"Damn right I wouldn't have, this is crazy. I've got a good mind to speak to the AD and tell him what I think."

"Then we'll all lose our jobs. I'm in play and that's where I have to stay."

"Hold up, who else knows about this and why the secrecy from your team?"

"Only the Chief and AD know. I'm sorry Gary but they suspect that the gang is getting assistance from someone inside LAPD. If my cover is going to work then all of law enforcement need to believe that I am persona non grata."

"You are outta your mind Granger, no way is someone from LAPD assisting a gang like this. You're just saying that to cover your arse." Walker was not entirely convinced by what he heard. Granger had put on one hell of a good show last time. For all anyone knew he could be using that to his advantage now, waiting for them all to lap it up like bears to honey.

"It's true man, I wouldn't make something like that up, not after everything I went through."

"What was that all about today then?" Asked David, unable to believe that his partner had once again been roped into undercover work.

"I'm afraid I am entirely to blame for that one. I knew that you were all working the gang taskforce, I needed to find a way to speak to you in private and a way into the gang, so decided to kill two birds with one stone."

"You nearly got yourself killed."

"I admit, it didn't quite go as I had planned."  
"So you did have a plan then?" Asked Gary sceptically.

"Oh yeah, it was a good one too. Bump into a psycho gang member I knew you guys were watching, get into a fight, maybe get a black eye and some bruises that required a hospital visit, then tell you what was happening. I mean I knew the guy was going to have a knife, but I didn't think he'd be quite so adept at using it." He shrugged philosophically, sending a pain through his shoulder. His plan may not have been quite what he was telling them, but he could hardly say his plan was to get cut with the knife. He'd never get out of the hospital without men in white coats arriving with a strait jacket for him.

"Man, you really are crazy." David shook his head.

"Do you have a better plan going forward?" Asked Don.

"Yup, but I need your help, and you aren't going to like that either."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? What do you need?"

"To get out of here and thrown in jail with Adam Archer."

"Whoa, I'm with Sinclair, you are crazy. Eppes, get that doctor back in here and get Granger committed. First you try to tell us that someone from LAPD could be dirty and now you want us to throw you in jail with a known felon, that tells me that you are, in all likelihood, involved with this gang and up to your neck in it."

"Look, I stood up to Archer, from what I've read that hasn't happened before. I either need him to realise what an asset I'd be or ruin his reputation so badly that he's out and I'm in."

"I'm scared to ask, how do you plan to do that?" Queried Don.

"Refuse to press charges against him. A kind of united front against law enforcement attitude. He is going to want to save face with his gang, at the end of the day he put a knife in my shoulder and I'm an ex-FBI agent, that makes him look like he has balls. How good would he look if he then recruited said ex-agent into the gang?"

"If that doesn't work?"

"Then I'm in trouble." He said simply.

"Colby, this could turn nasty very quickly."  
"I am well aware of that Don, trust me."

"I do." He said softly. He let the words hang in the air for a moment before speaking again. "At least now we know we can watch your back from a distance. If things start to go south we might be able to pull you out."

"Knew there was another reason I told you about this." He grinned.

"I promise, I will find a way to safely tell Megan and Liz, but other than that your secret is safe with us, right guys?"

David nodded.

Gary hesitated. He was not convinced that Granger wasn't trying to pull the wool over their eyes. He knew the man had been undercover previously, but that didn't automatically mean that he was telling the truth this time. Walker looked at Don and David who were watching him expectantly. He figured he could consent to keep the secret for the time being, but he intended to watch the man, and his team, carefully until he was convinced that Colby was telling the truth. He gave a slight nod of agreement.

"Right, now I think you need to get some rest. There is still a fair amount of blood to trickle back into your veins, which gives us the perfect excuse not to return you to LAPD just yet. Use the time to sleep, I have a feeling you're not going to get much of that until this is done."

"One more thing Don, can you please speak to Sam and Jenny, tell 'em I'm away, gone to sort my head out after getting fired or something. I don't want them anywhere near this." He had met Sam and her 8 year old daughter Jenny during the last year, and they were the best thing to come out of it, they had become good friends, he wasn't sure whether it would turn into something more, but he had been enjoying just spending time with them.

"No problem."

Colby smiled his thanks at Don, leaned back and closed his eyes, happy that he had gone with his instinct and told them what was happening, at least this time he wasn't out there completely alone.

* * *

Don followed Gary and David out of Colby's room and pulled the door shut behind him. He checked to make sure there was nobody within ear shot before letting out an explosive breath.

"This is bad. After all he's been through in the last year I am not convinced he's strong enough to sustain this charade long enough to find what the AD and Chief are looking for."

"I'm more worried about whether or not he's telling us the truth." Commented Walker, earning himself a glare from David.

"He is. After all that's happened, I'll never doubt his honesty again. If he says he is undercover, then that is what he's doing."

"I admire your faith in him Sinclair, I really do, but I can't, in fact I won't, believe that someone with in LAPD would be involved in something illegal."

"May I remind you that nobody thought that there was a mole in the DOJ until Colby nearly died revealing his identity?"

"The LAPD is NOT the DOJ, the people I know wouldn't be involved with anything like this."

"The people you know? Do you know everyone in LAPD then Walker?" Demanded David.

"Enough!" Snapped Don, finally fed up with listening to the arguing. Both men turned to him, their eyes showing each man's anger at the other's comments. "I have no doubt that what he is saying is true, I trust him, my concern is that he is not mentally able to deal with this. The AD caught him off guard and is possibly using him. I intend to ensure that Colby comes out of this alive. Now you can both either help me or not, but that is what I'm going to do."

"Don, you know I'm with you all the way." Assured David.

Walker put his hands to his head in frustration, "I really don't know what to believe Eppes, but I won't reveal any of what we have discussed to anybody, for now. If I find even a shred of evidence that Granger is not on the up and up, I will arrest him, toss him in jail and throw away the key." With that Walker walked away from the two agents, he needed some time to get his head around what he had heard.

* * *

Colby had managed to get a few hours sleep before the doctor came in and agreed to release him. His arm was put in a sling to help support the weight so that it wasn't pulling on his stitches, he was also given some pain medication to take, the doctor assured him at some point he was going to need it.

Considering his medical condition David and Don were both reluctant to release him into the same holding cell as Archer, but Colby said if they didn't then it would all be for nothing and he'd have to go through it all again, but next time he might not be so lucky as to only get a knife in the shoulder.

When the LAPD officer opened the holding cell door and admitted Colby in, Archer immediately stood up and glared at him.


	4. New Acquaintances

**Disclaimer: Wish I owned Numb3rs, but I don't, so I just borrow the characters and put 'em back on the shelf when done for others to play with. Adam Archer, nasty boy that he is, is mine.**

**A/N: OK, I struggled with this chapter. I've done some research, but I've also taken some liberties with the storyline, some may not find it realistic, if you have any constructive suggestions on how to make it more so then am happy to listen. (My beta is buried under a pile of Uni work, and rather than make you wait 3 or 4 weeks I decided to go ahead, so this chapter has NOT been beta'd.) Here's hoping you enjoy.**

Chapter Three – New Acquaintances

"We meet again." Said Adam Archer.

"Observant." Retorted Colby.

"You got a smart mouth Fed." The gang leader got up from where he had been sitting and pulled himself to his full height, which was still a couple of inches shy of Colby's.

"So I've been told by better men than you, and that's ex-Fed, if you don't mind."

"Once a Fed, always a Fed." Sneered Archer.

"You'd think so, wouldn't ya, but apparently not if you break one of their rules. Do that and they kick your arse out!" Colby gave a one shouldered shrug, managing to make it look like he didn't care one iota about losing his job.

Just as Archer was about to approach Colby, and possibly start something, the cell door opened again. "Archer, you're out of here." Came the guard's voice.

"Well, that's interesting, the ex-Fed has to stay and I get to go. Be seeing you around, Fed."

"Whatever." He replied and lowered himself onto a bench that was bolted to the wall, he would have to stay for a while, he was waiting for his lawyer who had been called before he was locked up.

* * *

Colby was released, without charge. His lawyer was incensed that he had been held at all, but he managed to calm him down. They stood on the steps, shook hands and went their separate ways. He stood on the steps and looked around, he needed a cab, but they weren't easy to come by in LA. Stepping on the pavement he suddenly saw movement out the corner of his eye. He turned to face Archer.

"Told you I'd be seeing you around." He stated, stepping out of the shadows.

"What do you want? It's been a long day." Colby sighed inwardly, he really hoped that the other man wasn't about to start something right outside of the LAPD building.

"I'm told that the reason I was released is because you refused to press charges, so all they had was the concealed weapons charge. I wanna know why?"

"'Cos I don't need the Police to sort my problems out for me."

"They protect their own."

"Yeah, they do, I'm not one of them any more, I'm not going to help them put someone away, not my job." He allowed a little bit of resentment to creep into his tone.

"You know not many people stand up to me. Why did you get fired?" Adam had been genuinely surprised by Colby's fight with him.

"I stood up to you because I never back down from a fight. I got fired because I tried to help out a friend who found himself on the wrong side of the law." This was said in a matter of fact voice, no sugar coating, just pure facts.

"Cold."

"Yeah, especially considering I did 2 years undercover and helped the FBI bring down a mole in the Department of Justice, damn near getting myself killed in the process. This is the thanks I get."

"Man, that was you? I read about an Agent that did that." He found himself feeling a degree of respect for the ex-FBI Agent standing before him.

It was on the tip of Colby's tongue to comment on the fact the other man could read, but figured it wouldn't be the best time to say it. "Yeah, that was me. Now perhaps you understand why I have no time for Law Enforcement, any of 'em."

"So what's your name? Something already tells me that you know mine."

"Colby Granger. Yeah, you're Adam Archer."

Archer eyed him carefully. "Perhaps you and I got off on the wrong foot. Fancy getting a beer?"

Knowing that he shouldn't because of the pain meds he was supposed to take, but he had to for his job, he agreed. "Yeah, alright. Bury the hatchet, just not in each other eh?" Trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"Come on, I know the perfect place and I have a ride waiting for me."

Colby hesitated for a split second, one because it would be expected, after all nobody in their right mind gets into a car with a guy that stabbed them earlier in the day, second because he really wasn't sure it was the smartest move, but in the absence of his own transport he'd roll with it and see what happened.

"Hey, they confiscated my knife, I'm unarmed dude." Assured Archer.

"Some habits are harder to break than others."

"Nothing wrong with a healthy dose of suspicion."

Colby nodded and followed the man to a black SUV parked just down from where they were talking.

Neither man realised that they were being watched on two fronts. Don, David and Gary from an upstairs window, out of sight, two of them worrying about their friend and what he had got himself into, the other unsure as to what was going on, he knew that there were dirty cops, of course he did, but he had never noticed anything suspect amongst the people he worked closely with, he found it hard to believe that anyone working at LAPD HQ, that he knew, would be dirty. He barely knew Colby Granger in comparison, he could simply be spinning them a yarn.

A man was also watching them from a different window, a few floors above the others, worrying about his operation and wondering if Colby Granger, ex-FBI was on the up and up as far as changing sides went. One thing he knew was that he would speak to one of his men and get them to check into it, closely.

* * *

They found a quiet booth in the back of the bar Adam had decided on, it wasn't one that Colby would ever have entered, except to arrest someone, previously. The man who had driven them there disappeared into a back room. Two bottles of beer were placed before them. Adam raised his bottle in a toast. "New acquaintances."

"I'll drink to that." Colby responded, knocking his bottle against the other man's.

"What are you gonna do now you're no longer an FBI agent?" Adam was genuinely curious about the man sat opposite him.

"Dunno, haven't given it much thought. Perhaps I'll just enjoy the novelty of not havin' to get up in the mornings." He grinned, part of him enjoying the thought that he didn't have to get up for work. Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and suddenly there was no joy in not being up at the crack of dawn or out till the early hours, or a combination of both. Part of him was going to miss that. "Perhaps I can go into private security."

"Sounds boring." Stated Adam simply. He had been part of a gang since he was twelve, he couldn't imagine doing anything else.

"Yeah well, don't know much else and there's good money in it." Colby shrugged philosophically. "First the army and then the FBI gave me a sense of belonging that I didn't have growing up I guess, problem is I have outgrown the rules and regulations, they're too restrictive."

"All I've ever known is the gang, they're my family."

Colby wanted to ask what had happened to his biological family but didn't want to push things. He wasn't going to be able to 'bond' with this gang banger overnight, though it seemed, for some inexplicable reason, the younger man was drawn to him. Adam couldn't be more than 26. His face showed some scars, as did his hands, but that was to be expected in his line of 'work'.

"Well as interesting as this has been, I need to get home, been a long ole day."

"Let me get Daz to drop ya off man."

"Daz?"

"The guy that picked us up outside PD." Adam pointed to the dark haired, dark eyed man who had just come out from the back room.

"That's not necessary."

"I insist, look at it as my way of saying thanks for not pressing charges." Smiled Adam. "If you're in the area at anytime, drop in for a beer."

"Yeah, OK, thanks." Colby got up as Adam waved to Daz and instructed him to drop the ex-FBI agent wherever he needed to go.

* * *

When he got inside his apartment building he walked up the stairs to find his door unlocked, he reached round for his gun, which of course he didn't have, something he was going to need to rectify. He opened the door and gave it a push with his toe, standing to one side.

"Get in here Granger." A familiar voice called out.

Entering he closed the door behind him. "Sir. You shouldn't be here." Colby addressed the AD, not happy at all to see him in his apartment, uninvited. Please, let yourself in and make yourself at home, why don't you? Thought Colby.

"I'm still your superior, as such things like what you did today should be run passed me first."

"How and when was I supposed to do that, Sir? I told you when I took this assignment, a degree of autonomy was going to be required. With all due respect, you picked me because I am damn good at what I do, I can't be expected to check in with you every time I make a decision, if I do my cover will be blown in no time."

"Just be careful you don't cross the line."

"I am all too aware of the lines. Now let me be frank, even though I respect the chain of command I have to say to you now, don't ever come here again, they now know where I live and if they see you here I'm a dead man walking."

"Be very careful with your tone Agent Granger."

"Technically speaking I'm no longer an Agent, Sir. I am on my own here and as such I have to set the rules to protect myself. I hope you understand that."

"I knew we'd picked the right man for the job, not scared to stand up for yourself, good. Keep in touch." Clearly satisfied with the responses he had received.

"I will, now please leave via the back fire exit."

After the AD had left he realised he'd forgotten to ask how the hell he'd got in. He supposed some skills even an AD never lost. Don would spit feathers when he found out that the AD had been so reckless as to come to his home, possibly best not to tell him, he needed his Supervisor to keep his job.

Colby winced as he inadvertently knocked his shoulder as he walked through to his bedroom. He eased himself out of the sling and threw it on a chair in the corner. Then remembering the painkillers in his pocket he went to the kitchen, got himself a glass of water and took one, he'd only had one beer and it wasn't like he had to get up for work in the morning. Going back to the bedroom he stripped down to his boxers, being careful not to pull his stitches, and lowered himself into bed, closed his eyes and fell into a drug induced dreamless sleep.

* * *

A few days later Colby made a point of being in the area of the bar and dropped in to see if Adam was there, as luck would have it, he was.

"Colby Granger, what brings you by?"

"Was at a loose end, thought I'd stop by for that beer."

"Cool, come on." He sat down in the same booth as before and a couple of bottles of beer were put in front of them once again. "What ya been up to man?"

"Not much, need to find a job, but not many places hire an ex-FBI agent that has been fired for breaking protocol." He shrugged.

Adam looked at the man opposite him thoughtfully, he had made a few enquiries over the last few days, he was beginning to think that the man could be an asset to the gang. He decided to broach the subject to see what reaction he got. "I might have something."

"Oh yeah?" Colby pretended not to be bothered.

"You've got a background in handling weapons, right? I mean other than the FBI?"

"Yeah, like I said the other day, was in the Army, joined out of college, did a tour in Afghanistan."

"We may be able to work together then. Can you give me a coupla days?"

"For what?"

"Gotta talk to a few people."

"Fair enough. Let me give you my cell number, you can call and let me know when you wanna talk." Colby gave Adam his cell number, one that he had purchased himself a few weeks ago, he didn't want them to be able to trace the purchase back to LAPD or FBI. The two men finished their beers and Colby took his leave.

* * *

Three days later Colby's new cell phone rang, there was only one person that had that particular number at the moment, he paused before picking it up. "Granger."

"Hey, it's Archer. I wanna meet."  
"When and where?" Asked Colby keeping it short and to the point.

"Same bar, 8pm tonight."

"Alright, see you then." Not waiting for a response he hung up. The game was well and truly on.

That night when he entered the bar he found Adam in the same booth as before, the man was slumped in a corner with a bottle of beer in front of him, as he slid onto the opposite bench a beer was immediately put in front of him.

"So…?"

"Straight to business eh? I can do that. We are an up and coming organisation. Still small with only about 50 members, but we're growing. There are good opportunities for those interested and who have the correct skills."

"Let's cut the crap. You're a small gang, new to the area and you want to branch out into other gang territories. You need local knowledge and muscle to do it. I carried out some checks."

Archer nodded in approval. "Would expect nothing less from someone thinking about going into business with people he didn't know."

"What I was unable to find out is exactly what that business is, though you implied it was weapons based."

"Amongst other things. Guns are currently our main income. As we take over more territory we'll branch out, but for the time being we are sticking with what we know."

"Smart move. The LA gang scene is cut throat, literally. What do you want from me?"

"You clearly know the gangs better than we do, we need advice on which territory is ripe for the picking, which will offer the least resistance to a take over, hostile or otherwise. We have our sights set on becoming the biggest gang in LA, but we need to start out small, we don't have enough members for an all out turf war."

"Man, becoming the biggest gang isn't going to be easy, 18th Street Mexicali have a conservative estimate of 8000 members, just in the LA area." Shaking his head dismissively.

"That's why we need someone like you." Adam was not going to be swayed.

"Going to need to keep this low key to start with, if 18th Street get wind of this we'll all be walking around with targets on our backs."

"Can you help?" Asked Adam.

"Yeah, I know a few people I can talk to, some that may be interested in becoming part of a larger gang."

"Good. How about we get the first one for free?" He asked slyly.

Colby laughed. "Nice try, no way. I'm in need of an income, and LA ain't cheap man."

"Had to try. We need information about the territory covered and the number of members in the gangs and when the merger is complete you'll be paid."  
"Half up front, half on completion, otherwise no deal."

"You drive a hard bargain."

"Not really, it's just common sense."

"You have a deal." The two men shook hands.

"Give me a couple of days to make some enquiries and come up with the latest information. Lets meet back here, same time, in two days."

"You got it."

"One more thing, I no longer have a weapon, since mine was provided by the FBI. I feel kinda naked without it. Can you supply me with one?"

"Absolutely. What ya after?"

"Smith and Wesson PC 945, with ammo of course."

"Naturally. I'll have it for you in two days. It will be our gift to you."

Colby nodded, finished off his beer and left to return to his apartment.

* * *

Colby had spent the last two days gathering intel on local gangs and had managed to get himself in with one of the smaller ones, with the aide of a previous informant named Jimmy. Colby had arranged for a meet to take place the following day, he was on his way to inform Archer. He made a stop at a payphone and called Don on his new cell phone that Don had bought just for this purpose.

"Eppes."

"It's me."

"You OK?" Came the worried reply.

"Yeah, calling from a payphone. Need to let you know that a meet is happening tomorrow between Archer and the Temple gang. Midday, MacArthur Park. If all goes smoothly then there will be no need to do anything but…"

"Got it." Don didn't need Colby to tell him if this meet went bad then MacArthur Park could be a very dangerous place to be, he also knew the risk the younger man was taking even giving him this information.

"Gotta go, am meeting Archer to give him the good news. Be careful man."

"You too."

Colby hung up the payphone and carried on walking in the direction of the bar where he was to meet Archer. This was all weighing heavily on his mind. He was, after all, trying to help a gang expand their territory. He didn't want to be caught in a situation where he had to injure, or worse, kill someone in order to maintain his cover.

When he reached the bar Adam Archer was once again sitting in the same booth. Colby walked over and greeted the man warmly, maybe I shoulda been an actor, he thought to himself, would have made more money and sure as hell would have been less risky.

"Colby, how ya doing? Beer?" Adam smiled warmly at him.

"Doing good Adam, you? Beer would be good."

Adam nodded to a waitress who immediately placed a bottle in front of Colby. "I'm OK, hoping you have good news."

"Indeed, Sean, leader of the Temple gang, has agreed to meet tomorrow at midday in MacArthur Park."

"Bit public there Col."

Trying not to wince at the familiar tone of using a shortened version of his name he replied "Had to be Adam, best way to ensure no funny business from either side. I'm new to this and if I'm going to be successful then can't have the first meet I organise turning into a bloodbath, can I?"

"Good point. Alright, I'll pick you up at 11:00, want to get there nice and early."

Colby nodded his agreement and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Ah yes, our other business. Follow me." The two men got up from the booth and entered the back room. "A Smith and Wesson PC 945 and the first half of your fee." Stated Adam handing Colby a box with the gun and $5000 in. Opening it he pulled out the weapon and inspected it closely, nodding in approval. He was then handed a box full of ammunition. Satisfied he placed the gun in the small of his back, just where it belonged, then put the ammunition in the box with the cash and followed Adam back to the booth to finish his beer.


	5. Merger

**Disclaimer: Haven't won the lottery so still don't own Numb3rs or it's characters. **

**A/N: Confession time! It has been pointed out (thanks PattyB) that Lt Walker has experienced LAPD Officers being corrupt in a Season 3 episode – I completely forgot! Maybe it's because Colby wasn't in that episode, or maybe I'm just senile! Whichever, I'm afraid I need to ask you to indulge me and pretend it didn't happen! Lol Either that or I have to rewrite. *Gulp* I also have a bad habit of using English terms like arse instead of ass, sorry 'bout that, force of habit, I will try to stop that now! (Thanks NaggingCube)**

Chapter Four – Merger.

Don looked at his watch, it was nearly time for the meet. "Who fancies some lunch?" He turned to ask his team. They exchanged knowing glances and readily agreed to the suggestion. There was a tacit agreement between the team not to discuss anything that related to Colby within the confines of FBI Headquarters, nobody wanted the AD to find out that Colby had disregarded his orders. Don had managed to fill in the team on what was happening via their newly purchased cell phones, whatever else happened they needed to make sure their conversations couldn't be traced. He hadn't even needed to ask for help, each member of the team had offered immediately to go to the park at lunchtime so that they were nearby if required.

On reaching the park they congregated near where Colby had informed them that the meet was to take place, next to the Pavilion. Don took Liz and sat down on the grass on one side, whilst David and Megan went to the other side. They all had a clear view of the area and would be able to spot any sign of trouble early on.

Colby was walking down a path towards the pavilion, eyes constantly scanning the area, he quickly spotted the team but did no more than give a casual glance in their direction. The vigilance didn't go unnoticed by his companion.

"Everything OK Col?"

"Yeah, no worries Adam, just keeping my eyes peeled, ya know?"

"Cool, let's do this."

The pair took up a position near a tree to the left and waited. They didn't have to wait long before a lanky young man appeared walking towards them. Though not dressed in the stereotypical gang outfit of baggy jeans, t-shirt and baseball cap most of the other patrons of the park gave the man a wide berth, he seemed to ooze aggression.

"Yo, Colby." The voice deep and somewhat menacing.

"Sean, how ya doing?"

"Good. So this the dude ya told me about?" He waved towards Archer.

"Yeah, Sean meet Adam. I believe you gentleman have a mutual goal and will both benefit from this meeting."

The two men eyed each other warily, they hadn't lived to be in their mid-twenties in the world of gangs by being anything other than cautious. What followed was a frank and honest conversation punctuated by lots of swearing and gesticulating, enough to make even the ex-soldier cringe. It seemed that the Temple gang were being slowly pushed out of their territory, and they didn't like it. Becoming part of the new, as yet unnamed, gang in town was looking like a good proposition. The Temple gang had the members but not the money and contacts, the new one the money and contacts but not the members.

"I will take your proposition to our members." Turning to Colby. "I'll be in touch." Not waiting for a response the man hurried out of the park.

"What do you think?" Colby asked Adam, genuinely curious about how the meeting had gone, after all this was all new to him and he was winging it.

"Promising, Col, very promising. Lets get outta here, go grab us a lunchtime drink."

Colby followed the man out of the park, grimacing slightly, this guy liked his alcohol, probably a little too much, he wasn't fond of drinking during the day, but each to their own. Catching sight of Don nearby he gave an almost imperceptible nod, if he hadn't been looking for it, Don would have missed it.

The team gathered once more to head back to the car, relieved that the meet had gone off without a hitch. The thought of what Colby was going through weighed heavily on all their minds, they had been glad to see him looking healthy, at least for the time being. None of them were under any illusions that this particular operation could go south anytime and with grave consequences. Don was still wanting to go to the AD and tell him exactly what he thought, but to do so now would put Colby's life in jeopardy, something he wasn't prepared to do but if anything happened to his agent then the AD would feel his wrath. The way in which the AD had approached the youngest member of his team had been some what unorthodox. He had no doubt the man had his reasons, but that wouldn't matter if Colby was injured or worse, killed, during this operation.

* * *

"Granger." Colby answered what he now saw as his gang hotline cell.

"We have a deal." Came Sean's voice over the phone.

"Good. I am sure you won't regret it." In all honesty you probably will, but you shoulda stayed out of the gang business, thought Colby.

"You better hope not." The threat was clear.

"Don't threaten me Sean, I've had harder men than you try and fail." He snarled. It felt like he was part of a bad gangster movie.

"Set it up for tomorrow, same time and place." The gang leader stated and hung up.

Taking a deep breath Colby called Adam. "It's on. Tomorrow."

"Where?" Asked Adam.

"MacArthur Park again. Same time and place."

"Got it, see you there."

Colby put the gang cell phone down and picked up the one he had now purchased solely for contacting the team. Again he kept the conversation brief, informing the SAC of the location and hanging up. No doubt about it, he'd be glad when this was over, it was making him nervous. The fact he was about to help increase the membership of one gang by about 200 members with a merger with another was not something he was particularly comfortable about doing, but he could see no other way of convincing everyone he really had switched sides. At least this way he would hopefully get to know more about the operations of the thus far elusive Temple gang as well as the new one.

The next day the meeting at MacArthur Park followed the same pattern as the previous one, though Colby came under his own steam this time. By the time the meeting concluded both sides were happy with the arrangement. Whilst still maintaining some autonomy from the new gang, Temple members would receive the benefit of the contacts they had outside of LA and they in turn would share their local knowledge and provide manpower where necessary.

Once more Colby returned to the bar where Adam liked to conduct his business, once there he was handed the remainder of his fee, he tucked the envelope into his inside jacket pocket with what he hoped was a self satisfied smile.

"Good job." Nodded Adam approvingly.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I have another proposal for you."

"Oh?"

"We want you to keep doing what you did today. If there are any gangs that don't want to meet, then you give us the information we need to, er, persuade them and we want you to come along on our gun buys and inspect the weapons."

"Don't you already have someone who inspects the weapons?" Asked Colby.

"We did, but some of our last shipment turned out to be damaged goods. Lets just say a member was injured due to a faulty weapon, the man who inspected it is no longer part of our membership." Adam eyed Colby, watching carefully for any reaction, he saw none. "What do you say?"

"An interesting proposition. Lets discuss terms, shall we?"

Adam grinned appreciatively. If someone had told him a few months ago that he would be working alongside an ex-Fed he would have laughed at them, but this agent was going to be a real asset and bringing him in might even give Adam the opportunity to move higher up the chain.

* * *

Colby collapsed into bed, it had been a long few days. He lay on his back staring at the ceiling, despite being bone tired he just couldn't sleep, there was too much going through his head. The AD and Chief would be pleased with this latest turn of events, but Colby couldn't share their enthusiasm, he just felt like he was getting deeper and deeper into something that he really wanted no part of, the more he was drawn into this gang the harder it would be to extricate himself when the time came. He could just walk away, that's what he should have done in the first place, unfortunately his sense of duty didn't let him then and the same held true now. Sighing he turned onto his side and closed his eyes in a futile attempt to sleep. Finally he drifted into a restless sleep filled with disconnected dreams. Colby was roused from his sleep by the ringing of one of his cell phones, groaning he reached out and grabbed it.

"Granger."

"Mornin' Col." Came Adam's way too cheerful voice. "Sorry to wake you man."  
"What's up?" Colby was in no mood for pleasantries after getting barely any sleep.

"Got a shipment coming in and need you to check the goods."

"Right, when and where?"

"Will pick you up tonight at 22:00."

"Give me the location, I'll meet you."

"No, this is your first time out, you'll come with me." Archer's tone brooked no argument.

"OK, see you at 22:00" He disconnected. Might as well get up now, he thought, go for a jog and call Don to let him know. Throwing on his running gear he grabbed his cells and keys before heading out the door. After a couple of miles he stopped to take a drink out of the bottle of water he had bought from the corner store on his street. He pulled out his cell and called Don.

* * *

The team were gathered at Charlie's having breakfast when Don's cell rang. Excusing himself he left the table to take the call. On his return he filled them in on his conversation with Colby.

"So he has no idea where the buy is going down?" Asked David, worried. If they didn't know where it was they couldn't help.

"Nope, none. Unfortunately we have nothing to go on to help us find it either, Gary hasn't mentioned anything about a gun shipment and we can't go about asking questions, it will look suspicious."

"Not to mention we have a tip about a drugs buy tonight that we are due to help the gang taskforce with." Added Megan.

"Reckon the two are linked?" Asked Liz.

"Doubtful, drugs aren't what this gang are into, at least not yet."

"He's gonna be out there on his own."

"David, I don't like it anymore than you do, but there is nothing we can do."

"Nothing you can do about what?" Charlie asked as he walked back into the dining room from the garage. Don hadn't told his brother or his father about Colby's undercover operation, he didn't want them involved.

"The fact we have a drugs bust tonight and he had a hot date with Claudia." Supplied Don.

"Yeah, am gonna have some serious grovelling to do."

"Flowers, a large, expensive bouquet of flowers." Suggested Charlie.

"You reckon?" David raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Mathematically incontrovertible. Ladies love expensive gestures."

Liz and Megan both nodded their agreement before calling out to Alan, who was still in the kitchen. "Thanks for breakfast."

He stuck his head back round the door. "You're welcome, you all be careful out there tonight. Donnie, call when you're done."

"Dad, it could be late."

"That doesn't matter, I won't sleep until I know you're safe, all of you."

Sighing Don reluctantly agreed.

* * *

"See anything yet Eppes?" Walker's voice came over the radio, lifting his hand to bring the mike closer Don responded. "Nothing here, you?"

"Nothing yet."  
"Gary, you sure about the time?"

"It's what our informant told us, he's normally a reliable source of this kind of information, but who knows."

"Hang on, I see something. There's a couple of vehicles heading this way. All units, be ready to go on my signal." Don ordered.

The surveillance and raid teams watched as a pair of black SUVs with tinted windows pulled up in front of the warehouse. Half a dozen men exited the vehicles. Don exchanged a glance with David, who was crouched next to him, he too had spotted the familiar figure of Colby Granger. He quickly put his finger to his lips and shook his head, indicating the radio. David nodded in understanding, anything they said would be picked up by everyone listening in, they would have to let the events unfold and hope that they could keep Colby out of harms way.

The men from the SUVs headed for the entrance of the warehouse, Don and the team knew that there were already another half a dozen men waiting in the warehouse. A surveillance team had reported their arrival a couple of hours ago.

* * *

"Ready Col?"

"I was born ready, let's go." He replied exiting the SUV. He glanced around him making sure that there was nobody lurking unexpectedly nearby, he saw nothing untoward and followed the others into the warehouse. On entering he scanned the interior, quickly noting the location of the men standing round.

"Archer. Good to see you again." A man stepped forward, clearly in charge.

"Likewise Davies." Responded Adam, he indicated Colby. "This is Granger, he is going to inspect the weapons."

Davies nodded. "This way." He motioned for Colby to follow him. On the floor of the warehouse, behind another black SUV, was a series of wooden crates open and ready for the weapons to be inspected. Colby moved forward and picked out a Colt semi-automatic handgun, checked it, then pulled out another. It didn't take him long to realise that all the weapons appeared to be in working order. He turned to Archer and nodded.

"Good. Same deal as always Davies?"

"Yeah, $10,000."

Archer beckoned to one of the other men he had bought with him, a case was passed to him, which in turn he laid on the bonnet of the SUV. He opened it and showed Davies, who nodded. Archer closed the case back up and handed it over.

Just as Archer's men were about to seal the crates back up and carry them to the waiting SUVs there was gunfire from outside the warehouse where two of Archer's, and two of Davies' men were waiting for the deal to be completed.

* * *

"All the players are here, lets do this Eppes." Walker called over the radio.

Exchanging glances with David, Megan and Liz, he took a deep breath and called over his radio. "Go, go, go."

On his command several units, including LAPD SWAT roared into the area in front of the warehouse, no sooner had they come to a stop than gunfire was exchanged with the four men outside who had quickly ducked behind the two SUVs. SWAT took care of the four in short order. Don, his team and Walker with his team took up position on either side of the entrance. He held up his right hand, counted to three on his fingers and they made entry.

"FBI, put your weapons down." No sooner were the words out than more bullets came flying in their direction causing the two teams to scatter and take cover behind the various crates laying around the warehouse.

* * *

At the sound of the gunfire outside both Archer and Davies turned to the other, looks of pure venom on their faces, before either man had time to accuse the other of anything the doors burst open admitting several heavily armed men and women. Quickly followed by shouts of FBI.

Colby swore silently. This was not going to be a good situation to get caught in, he needed to get out of here, preferably without firing on his team mates. He quickly grabbed Archer and pulled him behind the shelter of the SUV. The other men followed suit. Peering over the bonnet of the vehicle Colby could see that there was no way out passed the FBI and LAPD officers, he glanced at one of Archer's men crouched low next to him, weapon resting on the bonnet. To his horror Colby watched as David momentarily came out from cover and into the line of fire, hesitating for only a split second, he took aim and fired, watching as his one time partner flew backwards, this caused the other agents and officers to open fire in his direction allowing them to retrieve David from the area without further injury to anyone. Whilst they were distracted Colby came up with an idea.

"Everyone in the SUV." When nobody moved, he growled. "Move it!"

A further volley of bullets in their general direction had Archer's & Davies' two men piling in to the vehicle, Colby pushed Archer through the open driver's side door and scrambled in after him. Davies only hesitated a moment before climbing in the back with the others. There were still some of his men in there but he couldn't do anything for them now, they would have to fend for themselves.

"Everybody stay down." Colby started the SUV and prayed that he didn't kill anyone with the stunt that he was about to pull, including himself. He gunned the engine and put his foot down, the heavy vehicle lurched forward and accelerated towards the exit where the police and agents had taken shelter. Seeing the vehicle barrelling forward they all dived out of the way, narrowly missing them it carried on through the heavy wooden wall. Thank god it was an old warehouse and not built of brick. Once outside the warehouse Colby managed to avoid hitting the various federal vehicles dotted about and made his way to the open road. He looked in the rear view mirror to see everyone scrambling to get to their cars to give chase, the move had been so unexpected that it gave him the time he needed to get out of the area.


	6. New Enemy

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Numb3rs, or the characters, not even Colby. (A girl can dream though!) I do own Adam though.**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and alerts, they have given me plenty to think about and encouragement. Here is the next chapter for ya.**

Chapter Five – New Enemy

Colby pulled into a deserted car park about five miles outside of the city. He closed his eyes, replaying in his mind the moment he had shot David. He needed to know that he was OK, but right now there were more pressing matters at hand, like the fact Archer and Davies had got out of the car and were squaring up to each other. Colby got out and took a step towards the two men.

"You set me up." Snarled Archer.

"Me? I don't think so. You're the one that bought a new guy along, funny that the night you do we get raided, doncha think?"

Colby heard the distinctive sound of a gun safety being released coming from behind him, he turned to find Davies' man pointing a gun in his face. "I save your ass and this is the way you repay me huh?" He raised his hands slowly and turned back to face Davies. Archer's man in turn pulled his weapon and pointed it at Davies' guy. "I really don't think this is going to get us anywhere guys. You kill me, he kills you, it will just all be one big mess. Why don't you put the guns down eh?" Crap he was no good at this talking people down stuff, that had always been David's forte, he was the diplomat.

"Get your man to put his weapon down Davies. Colby saved all of us in there. He couldn't have given away our meet, he didn't even know where it was."

Davies shook his head in response. "I only have your word on that Archer."

"Look, it isn't going to matter who told who what soon, the FBI are going to have birds in the air and they are going to be sweeping the area looking for this vehicle, surprised they weren't at the raid, I dunno why they weren't but can I suggest that we all get out of here before they rectify that mistake?" Colby tried to intervene. He was rewarded by Davies' thug stepping closer and putting the gun to his temple. The man had, of course, played right into Colby's hands, he had needed to move closer allowing the agent to quickly grab the gun with one hand and give him a good elbow in the stomach, he swivelled round and landed a hard punch to the man's jaw, knocking him to the ground. The man hadn't even had time to breathe let alone pull the trigger, for a big man, Colby could be very quick when the situation required.

"Now like I was saying, let's get the fuck outta here before the cops arrive." Archer looked at Colby appreciatively, he kept underestimating the man. He pulled out a cell and made a call, Davies did the same. In a matter of minutes two cars pulled into the car park.

"This ain't over Archer, not by a long shot. I lost four good men tonight, not to mention my merchandise."

"I lost men too, and money. We're even."

"Not even close." Davies turned to Colby. "You, watch your back." With that he got in the car that had arrived to collect him and vanished.

"Come on Col, lets get you home man. Good job. Don't worry about Davies, we've got ya back."

* * *

Archer's man dropped him at his apartment. He unlocked the door and immediately knew something was different. He turned on the lights, everything was as he had left it, almost. There were a few things that were slightly out of place. Picking up a picture from his army days he carefully turned it over, there tucked behind the frame was a small bug. Great, now his place was wired for sound and he had no idea who had done it. There was a chance it was something to do with the AD or the Chief, but it was equally possible that Archer had arranged it, he knew he couldn't do anything about it. He had thought briefly about destroying the device and any others he could find, but if the bugs had been placed by Archer then it might lull him and the gang into a false sense of security, they would be able to hear all conversations and he could use it to his advantage.

He sat on the sofa and ran a hand through his hair. Not only had he shot David, but he had also managed to get himself a new enemy in the form of Davies, not bad going for a few hours work. He needed to know how David was, he had to find a way to get the information, but with the advent of the bugs he couldn't make any calls from his apartment and a text just wasn't going to cut it. He quickly changed into some running gear, he was too wired to sleep now anyway, a jog seemed like a good way to wind down and get away from the apartment to make a call to Don.

* * *

"Don, what the hell happened, what was Granger doing there, are you still convinced that this isn't part of a set up by him?" Asked Walker quietly as they waited in a hospital corridor for news of David.

"No way was it a set up. He told us that he was taking part in a weapons buy, he had no idea where it was taking place so no way we could have known our drugs raid was linked. The gang that he has joined aren't in the drugs buying business yet."

"Well we found no drugs, our informant got the information wrong." Sighed Walker.

"You think?" Don responded sarcastically before realising it wasn't Walker he should be angry with. "Oh damn, I'm sorry Gary, this is just so messed up."

"We'll get to the bottom of this, no matter what the outcome. Don't you worry." He was fully aware that tonight's raid could have been a lot worse, both for them and for the ex-agent who claimed to be undercover.

"Don, any news?" Asked an anxious Megan hurrying towards them closely followed by Liz.

"Not yet, shouldn't be much longer."

"I'm done." A voice said behind them.

"David, man, you OK?"

"I'm fine Don, just some bruising." He winced slightly, his ribs were tender, aching with every breath.

Before he could comment Don's cell rang, it took a second for him to realise it was his 'Colby' cell, not his work one.

"Is he OK? Please tell me he's alright?" Blurted Colby as soon as Don picked up.

"Hear for yourself." He handed David the phone. "Colby wants a word."

"I can't believe you shot me." Stated David

"Man, I'm sorry, one of Archer's men had you in his sights, if he had shot you then we might not be having this conversation, I figured if I shot you in your vest it would be better. I mean I would rather not…"  
"Its OK dude, I get it."

"You do? Are you really OK?"

"Yes, on both counts. Are you alright?"

"Better for hearing you're alive and kicking. Look I gotta go, tell Don I'll call him tomorrow."  
"Alright, and Colby?"

"Yeah."  
"Thanks, you probably saved my life."  
"Anytime."

"Do it again and I'll shoot you back." He grinned as he heard his friend chuckle as he hung up.

Megan looked at David. "Is he OK?"

"Yeah, he said he'd call again tomorrow. I'm worried about him Don."

"I know, we all are, but nothing we can do about his situation right now. On the other hand, your situation I can."

"My situation?" David asked confused.

"Yeah, I'm driving you home and you are gonna get some rest." Don held up his hand as David started to protest. "No arguments, just because Granger isn't on the team any more, doesn't mean I'm looking for someone else to take over his role of the most stubborn team member."

"Better do as your told, otherwise he'll have you checked in!" Smirked Liz.

"Alright, I give." He sighed, following the rest of the team and Walker out the doors leading to the car park.

* * *

Colby strolled in to Archer's bar the next day having received a call asking him to meet there for lunch. He nodded to the now very familiar barman and waitress, requesting a coffee from the latter, then went to sit and wait for Archer to arrive.

He didn't need to wait long.

"Yo Col, sorry to keep ya man. Coffee?" He indicated the cup in front of him on the table. "Sure I can't get ya a beer?"

"No, this is good thanks."

The waitress placed a beer in front of Archer, which the man took a healthy gulp from before giving his complete attention to Colby. "So, Daz told me something interesting about last night."

"Yeah?" He remained calm, Daz had been the man who had been about to shoot David before Colby relieved him of the task.

"Yeah, he was most upset that you shot that Fed before he got the chance."

"Well I had been waiting ages to shoot that particular Fed, that smug bastard used to be my partner. Made my life hell, picking holes in whatever I did. I saw him break cover and took my chance. I'm not going to apologise for that, if Daz doesn't like it, he can take it up with me himself." Colby stated firmly.

Archer gave Colby an appraising look. "I'm sure Daz will let it slide. We all need a chance to let off steam now and then."

"What's the situation with Davies?"

"It will be taken care of, don't worry."

"Not worried, just curious. That was some good stuff he was selling."

"Yeah, my bosses weren't too happy about losing that shipment." He winced at the memory of the conversation.

"There will be others." Shrugged Colby.

"No doubt, but we also lost a lot of money, and that will have to be made up somehow."

"Any thoughts on how?"

"Well the Temple gang gave us access to more members, now we need access to a gang with an up and running drugs business. Can you help?" Adam wanted to know.

"That's a possibility. Can you give me 24 hours?"

"Yeah, look forward to hearing from you."

Colby finished his coffee and got up to leave, knowing when he had been dismissed.

* * *

Colby stepped out into the heat of the LA sunshine, his sunglasses protecting his eyes from the glare, this turned out to be quite fortuitous as he was able to see a car pulling away from the kerb a short distance away and quickly increase speed down the road heading in the direction of the bar. Something told Colby that this was going to end badly if he didn't move quickly. He ducked back into the bar and yelled.

"Everyone get down, NOW!" At that moment the plate glass windows that looked out onto the street exploded in a hail of automatic weapons fire. He threw himself down to the ground, placing his hands over his head in a vain attempt to protect himself from flying glass. Mere seconds later a deathly silence descended over the bar. Lifting his head up slowly Colby realised that the gunfire had stopped and got carefully to his feet and ran outside to see a black Mercedes taking the corner at the end of the street so fast that the wheels on one side momentarily left the tarmac.

"Shit." He cursed, turning back and entering the bar to see if anyone had been injured.

"Col, man, you alright?" Asked Adam dashing to his side.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Anyone hurt?"

Adam looked around at the other patrons and staff in the bar. "Looks like some cuts from flying glass, but can't see anything too serious."

"Probably ought to call for an ambulance to check these people out, to be on the safe side." He was no paramedic and he wanted to ensure nobody had been hurt.

"Of course, you're right, don't want anyone suing me eh?" Adam waved a hand at the barman, who nodded before picking up the phone and dialling 911. The man had only just replaced the receiver when sirens could be heard coming down the road. "That was quick."

"That's not an ambulance man, that's the cops." Colby indicated the cars pulling up outside, a half dozen officers spilling out on to the street. He walked towards them, hands away from his sides, showing he was no threat, after surviving what appeared to be a drive by, he didn't fancy being shot by a jumpy over zealous LAPD officer. He had conveniently slid his gun out from its place at his back and hidden it behind the bar as he was checking to see if anyone was injured, knowing that the amount of gunfire would bring police to the area.

"Afternoon officers. I'm unarmed." He turned slowly to allow them to see he carried no weapon. One moved forward, whilst being covered by a colleague and patted him down to confirm his statement.

"Sir, what happened?"

"Well now, Officer, I came out of the bar and suddenly there was gunfire, I threw myself on the ground and waited for it to stop. Didn't see anything." All wide-eyed innocence.

"Uh huh. Anyone injured?" The Sergeant that approached him looked him over, wincing as he did. Colby didn't give it much thought, but responded to his question. "There are customers with some cuts, we called for an ambulance." As he said this an ambulance pulled up to the kerb and two paramedics jumped out and dashed into the bar, seconds behind it, an unmarked police car. Colby watched with a sinking feeling as Lieutenant Walker exited the car. He had really hoped that he would be able to avoid telling Don about his brush with a bullet, that was now a dim and distant hope.

Adam came and stood beside him as the Lieutenant approached, watching the policeman closely. His reputation preceded him and he was well known to all the gangs, even the smallest.

"Lieutenant Walker."

"Archer. Granger." He glanced over at Colby. "Wanna tell me what happened here?"

"I couldn't tell you. I was in the back when Colby here ran in and shouted for everyone to get down. Probably saved a lot of lives."

"Is that right? Well I would like to get a statement from you then. Perhaps you should get those cuts looked at first though."

Colby looked puzzled, he had no idea what Gary was talking about. Seeing his confusion Adam spoke. "Er, you've got some cuts to your face man, and didn't you notice your hands?"

Looking down Colby finally registered that there was, indeed, blood covering his hands, and when he put his hand up to his cheek more blood came away on them. "Nope, hadn't realised." He shrugged his shoulders, he had been too busy worrying about the possibility of others being injured.

Walker got the attention of one of the paramedics, the man walked over, took one look at Colby and escorted him over to the ambulance, sitting him on the back of it. The medic took out some sterile wipes and started to clean the cuts up, his patient tried not to flinch at the stinging sensation it created. A short time later the medic had cleaned the cuts, put a light bandage on both hands and some strips on a cut on his right cheek.

"There you are Sir, that should do you. Just keep the cuts clean, they weren't too deep."

"Thanks." He nodded at the medic and made his way over to where Walker had been talking with Adam.

"No Lieutenant, I have no idea who would have shot up the front of my bar, let me assure you, I intend to find out though."

"Don't do anything stupid Archer, leave this to LAPD."

"Yeah, because a drive by in this area will be top of your list of priorities, let me tell you, it's right at the top of mine." He turned on his heel and walked back into the bar to check on the injured. It seemed that nobody was seriously hurt and nobody actually required hospital treatment, much to Colby's relief. He turned to look at Gary, he could see conflicting emotions briefly reflected in Walker's eyes.

"You alright?" He asked in a soft voice, so as not to be overheard.

"I'm good, just a few cuts from flying glass, nothing serious. Could have been a whole lot worse. Just glad nobody was seriously injured."

"Any idea who did this?"

"Yeah, pretty good idea. I think it was Davies, the guy we were buying the weapons from, he thought I'd set him up."

Walker's tone suddenly changed, his voice rising. "Don't give me that crap, you must have seen something."

Colby immediately knew without looking that Adam was coming back in their direction. "Like I said Lieutenant, I was busy kissing the floor, trying not to get a bullet in my back. Don't have any Kevlar these days you see."

"Your skills for observing things has obviously diminished since leaving the FBI, sorry getting fired, from the FBI." He sneered.

"That's it, I'm done here. If you wanna speak to me again, call my lawyer, I believe you have his number." Colby stormed off, leaving Walker staring after the man, thinking he was lucky to be walking away this time. Gary knew he was going to have to tell Don about this, and he wasn't looking forward to that particular conversation.

Adam watched Colby walk away from the Lieutenant and back into the bar. A forensics team were gathering the bullets for evidence, though they were unlikely to find anything further inside the bar.

"Thanks."

"What for?"

"You saved my life, and those of my customer's. It won't go unrecognised."

"You think that was Davies?"

"I have no doubt of that. I've put a call in to the boss, the word is out, Davies is a marked man, nobody shoots at a member of the gang and gets away with it."

Although not particularly fond of Davies, the last thing Colby wanted to get involved with was a hit, even if it was on another gang. "I'll leave that in your capable hands, if it's alright with you, I'm gonna hit the road and head home."

"Good idea, you've earned a rest. Don't forget about our meeting tomorrow."

"I won't, I'll have some information for you, as promised."

He had only gone a few blocks when his 'team' cell rang, he flicked it open and before he could even open his mouth Don's voice came down the line. "That's it, we're pulling you out." He sounded worried.

"No."

"Sorry? I could have sworn you just said no." Stated Don disbelievingly.

"That's correct, I said no." He replied firmly.

"I'm told that someone tried to gun you down in a drive by and all you can say to me is no?"

"No."

"What?" There was an edge of frustration to Don's tone.

"No isn't the only thing I can say to you."

"Funny. I'm serious as a heart attack Colb."

"Don, if I pull out now then all this is for nothing and I'll have more than just Davies hunting me down if this gets out, Archer will make it his life's mission to finish me off."

"I'd never let that happen." Assured Don.

"How you going to stop it man? Hide me away in some mountain cabin for the rest of my natural life?"

Sighing Don knew he was right, didn't mean he liked it. "I'm worried."  
"I know, and I appreciate that, but I'm alright, really."

"How are the cuts?"

"Walker really told you everything didn't he?"

"Oh yeah, left nothing out."

"They're fine, minor, I've had worse cuts shaving."

"Hmmm, why don't I believe that?"

"It's the FBI agent in you, you're naturally sceptical. Don, can I ask you something?"

"Course, anything."

"Walker doesn't believe what I told you guys does he?"

"Colb, he's finding it hard to think that someone he works with is colluding with this gang, none of us like to think people we work with are capable of that. He also doesn't know you like we do. Give him some time, he'll come round. In the meantime he has given his word that he will not tell anyone what you have told us, OK?"

"If you say so. Look I gotta go Don, I need to do some research on a gang with a drug connection, who will be prepared to merge with Archer's."

"I can help you with that."


	7. Merger Two

**Disclaimer: Boring as it may be, I still don't own Numb3rs.**

**A/N: I hope this chapter meets with your approval… I've rewritten it 3 times to try to get it just right! Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter Six – Merger Two

Colby once again strode into Archer's bar at lunchtime, this was becoming a habit, he was actually probably spending more time here than at his own apartment. He had spent an hour speaking to Don the previous afternoon. He had suggested that Colby approach the gang that the taskforce had originally been at the warehouse to take down, that way they would get more accurate information on the gang concerned and be able to watch Colby's back without drawing attention to what they were really doing. The Vernon gang were small but extremely active, with just over 300 members that LAPD were aware of, they dealt in most drugs, though crack was the most common thing sold amongst their dealers. As soon as he was sat in the usual booth he was joined by Archer as well as Sean from the Temple gang.

"Granger. Heard about the drive-by yesterday. You ok?" Sean asked.

"Yeah, a few scratches, but I'm good." He replied dismissively.

"Good to hear." He glanced over at Adam, who gave a slight nod. "Got a question about the raid the other night."

"Oh?" Asked Colby cautiously.

"I understand that your old FBI partner was there, and ya shot him right?" Sean wanted to know.

"Yeah, and?"

"They musta recognised ya, so why the hell are ya still a free man?"

Colby looked at the two men sitting opposite him. "What are you implying?" His tone was quiet, measured and if the other men had known him better they would have realised, deadly.

"Not implying anything, I'm askin' if you're being straight with us." Insisted Sean.

"Sean's got a point there man." Said Adam.

Sighing Colby ran a hand through his hair, he had kind of been expecting this and was surprised it had taken them so long to ask. "I think they're using me."

"How?" Adam raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I wanted to be sure before I told you, but I found some bugs in my place a coupla days ago, also suspect I'm being watched, at least in the last 24 hours."

"That so? What ya do with the bugs?"

"Left 'em in place, thought we could possibly use them to our advantage."

Adam looked thoughtful for a moment. "In what way?"

"Can feed them duff information for a start, though will have to make sure I lose any tail before I do any more meets or oversee any buys."

"Yeah, maybe." Adam still sounded a little doubtful.

"If I get rid of 'em then they'll be busting my door down, locking me up and throwing away the key." Pointed out Colby.

"OK, you have a point." Responded Adam, getting back to business. "What do you have for us?"

He handed the two men the file he had put together on the Vernon gang's members and business dealings. There was silence whilst both men read through, when finished they both looked at Colby and nodded in approval.

"Good, when can we meet with them?"

"I'm going to speak with Josh, one of the bosses, tonight. I will contact you after to let you know how it goes."

"Want me to come with you? Give you some back up?"

"Thanks, Sean, but no, I think it will be better if I go alone."

"You sure, what if Davies' lot are about?"

"Then I'll handle it." Growled Colby.

Sean held up his hands. "Sorry man, didn't mean to imply that you couldn't look after yourself."

"Davies will not be causing Colby any more problems if he knows what's good for him." Chimed in Archer. He knew his boss had ordered a drive-by on Davies' crew in retaliation. Nobody had been killed, but several gang members had been injured. Now it was a waiting game to see if there was any further trouble from Davies.

"I'm out. Call you later." With that Colby got up and left the bar without looking back.

Colby stopped a few blocks from his apartment and got out of his car to place an urgent call to Don. He waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Eppes."

"Don, gotta problem, need your help."

"What's up?" There was no doubt that whatever his agent needed he would ensure he got it.

"Archer is getting suspicious. He knows that David was my partner and was at the raid, he and Sean wanted to know why I hadn't been arrested."  
"Man, Colb, we gotta pull you out, been getting some serious questioning about why we haven't arrested you yet too, seems like we need to put an end to this now." Don said immediately.

"No, I think I managed to cover. I told them that I had found bugs in my apartment that I thought had been planted by you to keep track of what I was up to, so you're using me, surely you can use the same thing your end? The problem is I found some that they had planted, so they may go back in and they'll need to find bugs they didn't place there."

"Whoa, what'd you mean you found bugs? Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Don was mad with Colby for not telling him, conveniently brushing over the problems he had been having over the fact he had not arrested Granger following the raid.

"I didn't think it was a big deal." Colby couldn't understand why Don was so pissed at him.

"No big deal? The gang you're undercover with bug your apartment and you think it's no big deal? Tell you what Colby, next time why don't you tell me and let me be the judge? They may have been following you or bugged your car."

"I know man, and I've been careful." He tried to placate the angry SAC.

"Dammit Colby, not telling me was reckless. We can't look out for you unless we know everything, do you understand me?"

"Yeah, I get it. I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Colby felt suitably chastised, but he'd genuinely thought it was nothing.

Don sighed, he was worried and he had allowed his concern to cause him to lose his temper. "OK. I'll get a team over to your place within the hour, you may be right about it being a good way to turn the attention away from the fact you haven't been arrested at our end too, don't go back to your place for a coupla hours."

"Thanks Don & I really am sorry."

"Just be careful, we're all worried about you man."

"I will be, you too." He hung up sorry that he had caused Don to worry, wondering if he should ever have told the team about this operation, though deep down he knew that they'd never have forgiven him for lying about going undercover a second time.

* * *

Getting out of his car at Griffith Park, Colby did some stretches before setting off down one of the many trails used by joggers. He had decided to combine some exercise with this particular meet. He had agreed his route with Josh prior to setting off, the man would intercept him at some point during his run, they hadn't determined an exact spot, Josh preferring to choose his moment, allowing him to ensure that the other man was, indeed, alone.

Colby was enjoying being out for his run, but was also alert for anyone watching him, he was expecting someone to appear out of nowhere, but he was also aware that the situation with Davies was unlikely to be finished with, it was rare that these sort of disputes just fizzled out of their own accord. He had been running for about 20 minutes when he heard someone coming out of the trees behind him.

"Granger." He stopped and turned to face the man who had appeared on the trail. He would have been described as handsome if it wasn't for the jagged scar running down the right side of his face, a result of a dispute with another gang member over football so Colby had heard. The other man had ended up in a body bag. Josh was a top dog in his gang and had stepped over a few bodies to get there. He was in his early twenties, sandy blond hair with striking blue eyes that Colby now noticed, in the evening light, were hard and cold. He shuddered, not sure if it was caused by the appraising look he was receiving or the slight drop in temperature.

"Josh." He stood where he was and waited for the other man to approach him. "There is a clearing up ahead with a bench, why don't we go there to talk."

Josh nodded in agreement and followed Colby. The two men sat side by side on the bench, both taking a few moments to assess the situation and ensure that they weren't likely to be overheard.

"You wanted to meet. So?"

"You've heard about the new gang in town, I'm sure." Colby paused and looked at the man sat next to him and received a nod. "They are looking to expand, and rather than end up in turf wars with other gangs they are looking to merge with some smaller ones. A mutually beneficial arrangement."

"I'm listening." He was a man of few words.

"They already have a lot of good contacts and deal in weapons, however they want to get into the lucrative, and somewhat less dangerous, drugs side of things."

"Less dangerous?"

"Yeah, more gangs selling drugs than weapons, therefore the attention of various law enforcement agencies is divided between those gangs. They will continue to deal in weapons, but the deals would be more carefully selected."

"Don't want another fuck up like at the warehouse the other night eh?"

"Exactly."

"You get our drugs connections, what do we get?"

"My understanding is that you have more drugs than you can distribute with your membership. We have merged with the Temple gang already, your access to manpower would double. The protection that could be offered by merging would benefit all."

"I need to take this to the rest of the gang."

"Understood."

"I'll be in touch within 48 hours." Josh got up and disappeared into the tree line without another word.

Colby sat on the bench for a few more minutes before getting up and running back the way he had come. There was something about Josh that unsettled him, not just the fact that he barely spoke, or the scar on his face, but his eyes were dead, absolutely no emotion behind them at all. The man was a stone cold killer, of that Colby had no doubt.

* * *

Two days later he was back at Griffith Park, this time with Adam and Sean in tow. They walked to a secluded area and waited for Josh to appear. They didn't have to wait long.

"Granger."

"Josh." The two men shook hands this time and Colby introduced him to the others.

"Sean, how is the merger working out for you?" Asked Josh, curiously.

"Good. We were being pushed out of our territory by another gang, that ain't happening no more."

"I see."

"Have you given Col's proposal some thought?"

"Yeah, lots. We're in." He stated succinctly.

Colby didn't know whether to be relieved or horrified. This all went against his training, not to mention his personal morals. If someone had told him a few months ago that he would be undercover with an LA gang helping them increase the total number of members by about 500 he would have died laughing. Now he just hoped that he lived to tell the tale.

The deal was sealed with handshakes. It was agreed that Sean would get the Temple gang to assist Josh's Vernon gang with their distribution issues. Eventually the three gangs would merge fully under one name, but for the time being they would work in co-operation. There was still the matter of the hierarchy to be sorted, but that would take some time to work out, something Colby hoped would be a moot point. If he was still undercover when they were trying to sort that out he didn't hold out much hope for the survival rate of the leadership of the Temple or Vernon gangs. Colby and his companions watched Josh and the two others he had bought with him disappear.

"Good job Col."

"We're gonna be busy makin' lots of dough outta this." Smiled Sean.

"Someone else wants to meet with you and give you your fee for this." Adam looked at Colby.

"Really? Who?"

"The boss. You're to be at the bar tonight at 10pm sharp."

"I can do that." They turned and started to make their way back to the car park, discussing the future and how things would progress with the inclusion of the Vernon gang.

Colby dropped the two men off at Adam's bar, before heading home. He needed to get some groceries so pulled in at the store near his apartment. He wandered round and once he was happy that there was nobody nearby that would be interested in what he was saying he pulled out the team cell phone.

* * *

Don and the team were once again at the Craftsman having lunch. Charlie hadn't been called on to consult very much recently and he was missing the interaction with the team. Alan had just made sure everyone had a drink before going back to the kitchen to finish preparing lunch when Don's 'Colby' cell rang, he excused himself and went outside to answer it.

"You OK?"

"I'm fine. Just finished my meeting."

Don had wanted to observe but Colby had insisted that he would be fine and the risk of the team being spotted at the location was greater this time, so he had given in, on the condition that he called him at the first available opportunity.

"How'd it go?"

"Good, I guess."  
"You guess?" This was like pulling teeth. "Come on Colb, what's going on?"

"Well, it's good from the perspective of the plan, just not so good from the point of view that the membership just increased, again."

"Don't beat yourself up over that man, you are just doing your job."

"That doesn't make me feel any better right now."

"I know. Look, this will be over before you know it and you'll be able to get back to normal."

"I hope you're right. Listen, one more bit of news for you. The boss wants to meet me and give me my fee. Meeting Adam at his bar at 10pm tonight, dunno what is going to happen from there."

"We'll be there."

"Not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not Colb? You need someone to watch your back if you're meeting the boss. Let us be there." For a moment Don thought the line had gone dead as there was no response. "Colby, you still there?"

"Yeah, alright, just be careful man."  
"You too Colb, you too." The call ended. Don stood for a moment looking over at the koi pond. Wondering once again how his youngest team member managed to find himself in such situations. A voice from behind him made him jump.

"Don, what's going on with Colby?"

"Dammit Charlie, do not creep up on me like that!"

"Sorry, and don't try to change the subject. I heard you talking to Colby. What's going on?" Don turned and walked passed Charlie into the house, his brother was hot on his heels. "Tell me."

"I can't Charlie."

"Can't what?" Asked Alan, watching his two sons walking back into the dining area of the house.

"He can't tell me what's going on with Colby. He was just on the phone with him."

"Charlie!"

"What? You told us that he was no longer part of the FBI and you would be having nothing more to do with him, then I walk outside to tell you lunch is ready to hear you talking to him. Doesn't take a maths genius to put 2 and 2 together and see that something is going on." He pointed out.

Alan looked from one angry son to the other, his boys had been getting on so well that it was rare for a scene of this nature these days, but when they came then it was better to let them sort it out. He placed the sandwiches he had made on the table and turned to the rest of Don's team. "Eat." He sat down, ignoring the looks being exchanged between them. He knew they would tell him, if they could, when they were ready.

"Don."  
"What?" He whirled round to look at Liz.

"Tell them."

"I can't, you know the risks."

"We all do, but Charlie may be able to help us at some point." Megan spoke softly.

"It's not like they're going to go running round the neighbourhood shouting from the rooftops that Colby Granger is undercover again." Sighed David, looking sheepish as he realised what he had said. Now Don would have to tell Charlie, or he'd go poking around on his own and land them all in hot water. He glared at David.

"Sit down Charlie." Once his brother was settled he joined them at the table. He quickly filled them in, including the news that he was to meet with the boss of the new gang.

"Whoa. He's in over his head isn't he?" Asked Charlie.

"Not yet, but it could happen, and if it does we want to be able to pull him out, in one piece."

"Can you get me the information that you have so far on the gang structure? I can put a network tree together and perhaps give you some information that will help Colby."

"I knew there had to be more to Colby's behaviour. He is not the sort of young man to behave so irrationally. How bad is this for him Don?" His father was clearly concerned about Colby.

"Bad, Dad. Very bad. I still can't quite believe that the AD asked, sorry ordered him, to do this. We need to do everything we can to protect and support him, that means this doesn't leave these four walls. Do you understand? Not even Larry and Amita can know for the time being." He watched as his Dad and brother nodded their agreement. "Charlie, lets go through to the garage, we'll give you all the information we have. We need to prep for tonight's surveillance as well."

Charlie took the files that David held out to him, he removed various photos of different individuals and drew a network diagram on one of his chalkboards, putting the photos where he thought they should go and drawing lines between the people. He had done something similar in the past with a terrorist cell and it had been very effective. He wasn't sure if it would work so well with the gang network, but he hoped they could glean something useful from it.

Whilst Charlie worked on his diagram the rest of the team were discussing whether they should tell Walker about Colby's meet tonight.

"If we don't tell him and he later finds out then he will have more reason to believe that Colby is lying." Megan was frowning as she said it. She liked Gary and was concerned that not telling him could ruin a good working relationship between him and the team.

"He did say he wouldn't say anything about the operation, so surely telling him would be perfectly acceptable." Reasoned Liz.

"I dunno. Not sure I like him being involved in any decisions concerning Colby. He isn't convinced that this is an undercover operation, if it comes to a point where we have to bring him in then Walker will throw the book at him. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, surely?" David didn't like the Lieutenant's lack of belief in his partner one bit.

"We should tell him. No, listen up." Don held his hand up to stop David talking over him as he could see he was about to. "Megan is right, if we cut him out of the loop now it will look like we, and therefore Colby, have something to hide from him. We bring him in then he will be able to see what's going on for himself and we can't be accused of covering anything up."

"It will be alright David, you know Gary is a good guy, put yourself in his position for a moment. Remember how you felt when we all thought Colby was one of the bad guys ourselves, well that's how Gary feels right now." Liz placed a reassuring hand on his arm and he acquiesced. Don pulled out his cell and called Gary, he caught him at home, so he asked him to join them at the Craftsman.

"Alright Eppes, what's going on?" Asked Gary as Alan showed him into the garage where the team were still congregated.

"Colby has a meet tonight with the head of the gang. We thought you should know."

Gary eyed him appraisingly. "OK. What's the plan?" Since he had been called and invited to join them he had decided to give them the benefit of the doubt for the time being, though he was still wary.

"He's meeting Archer at the bar at 10pm, after that we don't know whether he will be taken somewhere else or if the boss will meet him there."

"I'd go for elsewhere, the bar is too public for someone trying to keep out of the limelight." Stated Gary.

"I agree. We can see from Charlie's network chart that the head of the gang isn't linked to many of the other members of the leadership." Megan pointed to the chalkboard. There were half a dozen photos, including one of Colby, that all linked to each other. Colby was linked to Archer and there were five empty boxes above him, nobody knew who the others were as yet, they hoped that the top box would have a picture by the end of the day, then as well as Colby working his way up the chain they could start checking into connections from the top person down. That might even lead them to the link to LAPD that had put Colby in this position in the first place.

"How are we going to keep track of Granger?"

"I think we should take 2 cars. David, Megan and Liz in 1, you and I in the other, Gary. If they move from the bar then we're going to have to be careful that we aren't seen, they will no doubt be looking for tails." Don's face was grave, he didn't even want to consider the consequences if they were seen.

"We could put a trace on his cell as well." Suggested Charlie.

"If they let him keep it. In my experience someone meeting with the head of a gang will be stripped of any electronic items and weapons." Pointed out Gary.

"It's a good idea but it would mean using the FBI or LAPD techs, and we can't risk that." Interjected David.

"Amita could do it."

"Then we would have to tell her why we needed her to. The more people that know about this the greater the risk, to Colby and to everyone who knows."

Don turned to Liz, he agreed with what she had said and smiled gratefully, he didn't think Charlie would have accepted it so easily had it been him saying it.

"Why don't you all head home and get some rest. We'll meet back here at around 9pm and then head to the bar."

Murmurs of assent followed and the group broke up to go their separate ways.


	8. Old Friend

**Disclaimer: Nope, nuffins changed, still don't own Numb3rs. *sniff* Or the characters. *sob***

**A/N: Thanks for the feedback all, it's much appreciated that you take the time to comment.**

Chapter Seven – Old Friend

Colby arrived at the bar dead on 10pm. He knew that somewhere Don, Gary and the rest of the team were sitting watching, though he was relieved not to be able to see any of them. He had been extremely nervous when Don had told him that Walker was going to be accompanying them. The SAC had assured him that Gary just wanted to get to the bottom of what was going on, even if that meant discovering a bad apple in the LAPD barrel.

Stretching as he got out of the car, he walked casually into the bar, trying not to show how nervous he was about what was about to take place. As he approached the back Adam stood up to meet him and indicated he should follow him into the back room.

"Give me your cell and your gun." Adam didn't beat around the bush, the meeting tonight was too important.

Colby raised an eyebrow but wisely did as requested. He had purposely only bought one of his cells after speaking to Don and hearing what Gary said about the possibility he would be asked to relinquish it, and his gun. He was at least expecting it and said a silent thank you for the warning. Adam nodded to Daz who quickly patted Colby down and gave his boss the thumbs up.

"Come on, lets go." Without a backward glance Adam walked back out to the front of the bar, secure in the knowledge that both Daz and Colby would follow without being asked. Once outside he gestured to Colby that he should climb into the back of the SUV parked in front. He then walked round to the other side and Daz slid in behind the wheel.

They had been driving for about 30 minutes when Daz pulled the SUV to the side of the road. Colby turned to look at Adam, waiting for an explanation.

"I need you to put this on." He handed him a blindfold. "The boss wanted us to take precautions." Adam said by way of an explanation.

Shrugging his shoulders Colby took the proffered blindfold and slipped it on. Adam checked that it was secure then nodded to Daz to carry on. Colby was unable to determine exactly how much longer they travelled for, he noted a number of turns were being taken, presumably to ensure nobody was following. When the car stopped he waited to be told what to do next. This was all making him nervous and it was hard not to show it.

"You can take the blindfold off." Adam watched as he did so. "OK, lets go." He led the way towards what appeared to be an old warehouse, the only sign of anything going on were some surveillance cameras on the outside. When the door opened in response to Adam's knock and he stepped inside he could see that appearances were deceptive. Though the outside was an old warehouse the inside was kitted out with state of the art technology, a bank of screens which monitored the various cameras on the warehouse and, Colby could now see, the perimeter. He hoped if Don and David had been able to follow they didn't get too close.

On one side of the warehouse there was shelving, lots of it. Stacked with crates, probably about 50 of them, and they looked like the ones that had contained the guns he had inspected the night he shot David. Doing a quick calculation in his head, he was no Charlie Eppes, but he worked out there were probably between 500 and 600 weapons. He then noticed some containers that looked like they might contain RPGs. It looked like someone was preparing for a war. Adam had been watching him closely and cleared his throat when he thought he had been gawping at the crates long enough.

"Come on, the boss'll be waiting."

Colby turned and followed Adam over to the other side of the warehouse, which was partitioned off. He approached the only door and knocked, it was promptly opened and Adam ushered Colby in ahead of him. Once in the room he again took a moment to take in his surroundings. It was like stepping into a house, he had never expected to find this in a warehouse. The room he was standing in acted as an office, he could see a living room through one door and a kitchen through another. All was furnished to a high standard as far as he could see. Directly opposite the door he had entered through was a large desk, the chair behind it was turned with its back facing him. Adam stopped and stood waiting for the person behind the desk to turn around. When they did Colby barely contained the gasp that rose in his throat.

"Hello Colby."

His mouth dropped open, but no sound came out, he just stared at the woman sitting in the chair. She hadn't changed much, her brown hair was longer, resting just passed her shoulders, her green/blue eyes had a mischievous glint in them.

"Jasmine." He said, the word coming out as breathless in his stunned state.

"Adam, you may leave us." She dismissed the other man with a wave of her hand, he looked puzzled by the fact that Colby knew her, but said nothing and left as instructed. "I think you had better sit down before you fall down Colby." She got up and walked round her desk and led him into the living room. He lowered himself down onto one of the sofas, whilst she settled herself in an armchair nearby and watched him as he tried to gain some control over his power of speech.

"I thought, I mean, we couldn't find you after Xavier was arrested."

"You thought I had left the country?" She supplied with a smile.

"Well yeah. Nobody knew where you'd gone."

"That's the way it had to be. I'm sorry for what Xavier put you through, and more sorry for what I did to you, it was a very bad time for me and I handled things badly. A friend kept me apprised of your condition afterwards, I was gratified to find that you made a full recovery. Though I was surprised when you were fired." Her voice was filled with compassion, she had loved this man once.

"Well I guess I broke the rules once too often. Don couldn't accept my way of doing things anymore, nor I his." He allowed his voice to waver slightly, which wasn't difficult considering the shock he had just received.

"The FBI's loss is my gain." She smiled. "That is if you've genuinely changed sides."

"Your guys checked me out, you know more about me than I do about you at this stage."

"I'm certainly willing to consider the possibility that you've become disillusioned with life in law enforcement, though I never thought I'd see the day."

"I spent months recovering from what Xavier put me through, I returned to duty and was fired in a matter of weeks for helping a friend, no consideration for the things I've done for the FBI, the people I've helped, the things I've been through. I just couldn't go on with the pretence of caring anymore." His shoulders slumped, conveying how weary he was with the whole thing.

"Adam certainly seems convinced, the Temple and Vernon gangs have added nicely to our little operation too. Without you that wouldn't have been achieved without bloodshed. We appreciate that Colby."

"We?" He asked, confused.

"I'm in charge of the JK gang. I have a, let's just call him a silent partner, you may meet him in time, but he leaves the day to day running to me."

"JK gang?" The name was news to him and he figured the silent partner could possibly be the LAPD connection.

"The name we've decided on." She explained.

"Ah, I see." He really didn't, but no matter what it was called a gang was not good news for the people of LA.

"I'm just going to get Adam back in here." She got up and disappeared, returning after a few minutes with the man following in her wake. "Sit down, please."

Adam sat down next to Colby on the sofa, wondering why he had been summoned back to the living room, he had only been in here a couple of times and was a little nervous, he hoped the ex-FBI agent wasn't causing problems.

"Adam, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but Carl was killed today." She waited for the news to sink in. She could see Colby didn't have a clue who she was talking about by the puzzled look on his face. That was good, it meant that Adam hadn't been telling him too much. "Carl was part of the leadership." She explained for Colby's benefit. "He was killed during an attack by a rival gang at one of our clubs." This time there was no look of confusion, he had done some research and knew that the gang had 2 clubs in the City.

"Davies?" Asked the slightly paler Adam.

"Not this time, no. A response has already been sent. Though I had to tell you, that is not the only reason I bought you in here." Her voice softened with kindness, she liked Adam, he was fiercely loyal to her. As he met her eyes she carried on speaking. "I want you to step up into Carl's place, you've proved yourself several times recently and I think a promotion is in order."

"Thank you." He said meekly. Colby had never seen the man act so deferential to anyone, Jasmine certainly had a way with her still. She then turned her attention back to him.

"Colby, I know you well, and I even trust you, despite the fact that you are ex-FBI, I have seen how loyal you are to those you work with and for. I would like you to step into Adam's place." She meant what she said, but she also felt that this was a good way to keep an eye on what he was up to.

He stopped and thought about it for a moment, this wasn't something anyone had planned for, he had absolutely no idea what it would involve. He was about to ask when Jasmine saved him the trouble.

"You would be expected to supervise all weapons purchases and continue to expand our membership. You will continue to work closely with Adam, however his focus will now be our 2 clubs. What do you say?"

Colby took a moment to glance at Adam, he was concerned about how the man would react to him stepping into his place when he had only just joined the gang. He received a nod and smile of encouragement.

"Yeah, OK, I can do that." He agreed, somewhat tentatively.

"Excellent, now we'll have a drink to seal the deal before you boys head off to celebrate." With that she got up and went into the kitchen, returning with a beer for both the men and a glass of white wine for herself. Thirty minutes later they said goodbye to their boss. She shook Adam's hand and planted a kiss on Colby's cheek, causing the other man to raise his eyebrows slightly. "It's been good seeing you again. I look forward to many more meetings." She said to Colby, a warm smile spreading across her face.

The two men walked out of the warehouse, indicating to Daz that he should follow them. They all climbed back into the SUV in silence, Adam only spoke once they had turned away from the warehouse.

"Well, no need for the blindfold now man, you're one of us." He smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Colby chose to ignore it for the time being and remained silent during the journey back to the bar. Once there he followed Adam into the back room to retrieve his cell and gun.

He turned to the man who had driven them. "Daz, man, could you give us a moment, please?" The other man shrugged and left the room, Colby then turned his full attention on Adam. "Out with it!"

"What?" Asked Archer, feigning ignorance.

"You have a problem, get it off your chest. Is it because I've stepped into your place, which may I remind you I neither asked for nor expected, or is it because I know Jasmine?"

"It's certainly not because you're taking my place man, that makes me look good, though I should warn ya that there'll be those that don't take kindly to a newcomer stepping into my shoes."

"Well I figured that some people wouldn't be impressed, I am just glad you're not one of 'em." He stared intently at Adam, until he started to squirm under the intense green gaze.

"Alright, I'm a bit surprised that you know Jasmine, and at how friendly she was, I didn't like it. There I said it." At that moment he sounded like a petulant teenager, instead of a hardened gang member.

"Would it help you to know how we know each other?" He found that he liked Adam, much to his chagrin, he knew that could be a problem further down the line.

"Maybe." Adam replied grudgingly.

"Lets go get a beer and I'll tell you all about it." The pair sat in their normal booth and waited whilst a bottle of beer was put in front of each of them. Colby then took the best part of the next hour telling Adam how he had met Jasmine when he had stopped to help her after an accident on the freeway, the other driver was being difficult and seeing Colby's badge had moved him along. Then he had helped her with a supposedly violent ex-husband, which had resulted in him ending up being beaten to a pulp. She had then, unbeknownst to Colby, stalked him, he had everything from a wreath tacked to his apartment door to broken glass sent to him in an envelope. Adam's mouth hung open as Colby told him all of the things she had done, just to try to get his attention. He then gave him the details about Xavier, a drug dealer who loved Jasmine and wanted Colby out of the way. He had run him down in a car when she was arrested for the stalking and harassment, he had then grabbed both Jasmine and Colby, taking them to a remote warehouse and burying an injured Colby, still alive, in a box. It was raining and the box had started to fill with water. It was only because Jasmine cared about him still and called Don to tell him where he was that he had survived, all be it barely.

"You're shitting me!" Stated a gobsmacked Adam.

"No man, I'm not. She is one fierce lady, she knows exactly what she wants and lets nothing stand in her way to get it, you'd do well to remember that when you're dealing with her." He warned, seeing the shadow cross Adam's face he wondered if he had gone too far with his warning. "All I'm saying is that you don't want to get on the wrong side of her."

"Man, I have no intention of upsetting the lady."

"Then you have no problem. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to head out. I've got some work to do."

"See ya man." Adam smiled contentedly as Colby left the bar. Thanks to his decision to bring Colby into the JK gang he had now stepped up another level.

* * *

Colby slid behind the wheel of his car, he was amazed by the events of the night, now though it was late and he just wanted to head home, but he had to call the AD before he turned in, which meant finding a payphone as he never called him from his cell. He sighed, turned the key in the ignition and drove off. After a few miles he pulled up outside a convenience store with a payphone in the lot. He dialled the now familiar cell number for the AD and told him about the events of the night. By the time the conversation was over the AD was extremely happy with the progress Colby had made, he felt that they were getting close to finding out who in LAPD was involved. He hung up the phone after promising to check in again in a week if nothing else happened prior to that. He rested the phone back in it's cradle and nearly jumped out of his skin as David materialised out of nowhere.

"Jeeze man, you trying to give me a heart attack?" Putting his hand on his chest.

"Sorry bud." Grinned David, clearly not even slightly sorry. "How'd it go?"

"I'm tired, gonna go back to my apartment and collapse into bed, can we meet tomorrow?"

"Figured you might have had enough, Don says to meet at Charlie's at 13:00."

"No way, that's too risky. Besides how are Charlie and Alan going to feel about my being there?"

"They know." Said David quietly.

"What?" Colby was astounded by what he was hearing, and his mouth hanging open reflected his feelings.

"Yeah, Charlie kind of overheard Don on the phone to you earlier. He cornered Don and wouldn't let it drop. We figured that he might be able to help sort this mess out, get you out of this situation sooner rather than later." David looked at his friend closely, he could tell there was something bothering him. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He glanced at David who was looking sceptical. "I just have some stuff to think about, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

"I'll hold you to that man. 13:00."

"Yeah, see you then."

David watched as Colby got back into his car and drove off. He hoped that he had done the right thing in letting him go without talking, his eyes had looked haunted. He turned and headed down the road to his own car.

* * *

Colby stood nervously at Charlie's front door. He had driven to a nearby mall, parked his car and got a cab out to the house, he didn't think he had been followed, but he was worried about putting the Eppes family in harms way, though he also knew Don wouldn't have suggested it if he thought for a moment they were in danger. He was miles away when the door in front of him opened.

"Colby?" Charlie looked at the large man standing before him, he looked exhausted and was clearly thinking about something. "Colby?" He asked a little louder.

"Oh, hey Charlie." Colby managed a smile as he shook himself out of his reverie.

"Come in." He stood back and allowed his friend into the house. "Good to see you." He was enveloped in an awkward man hug for a moment. "We're in the garage." Colby followed the smaller man through the house. He relaxed in the familiar surroundings. Entering the garage Alan stepped up to him and patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner that melted Colby's heart. This man was so dear to him, he would gladly lay his life down to protect him, or any of the people currently seated round the garage.

"Colby, you're a good man. Don't let anyone tell you any different." Alan said softly as he walked passed him. "Can I get you a coffee?"

"That would be good, thanks." Colby smiled at him warmly and watched as he left, then he turned to face the room full of people and quickly found himself surrounded by the people he cared about. Once he had taken time to say hello to everyone he was ushered towards the sofa.

"What happened last night bud?" Asked Don gently. David had told him that Colby had been detached the night before, barely able to make eye contact.

"I met the boss and you aren't going to believe it when I tell you who it is."

"Don't keep us in suspense then!" Megan hated it when people didn't get straight to the point.

"Jasmine." Stated Colby simply.

"No way!" Liz exclaimed.

"Oh my god!" David's jaw was nearly hitting the floor, no wonder his friend and partner had been so shell shocked last night.

"I wasn't expecting that." Megan joined in.

"Are you OK? I mean she put you through hell." Asked Don.

"Give him a break guys. You're not letting him get a word in." Charlie felt that someone needed to keep a calm head under the circumstances, hearing that woman's name invoked some strong memories and reactions in them all.

Alan came back and handed Colby a mug of coffee. "You alright son?"

He smiled gratefully up at Alan as he took the mug. "Yeah, thanks. It was just a bit of a shock. Well, OK, a huge shock."

"I dunno what to say."

"That'll be a first then." Colby grinned at David as he said it.

"How did she react?" Megan wanted to know.

"She actually seemed happy to see me. Claims that she trusts me. The feeling isn't mutual."

Don had been watching Colby closely and could see there was more. "There's something else bothering you."

He looked at the SAC, he'd forgotten how perceptive Don could be. "Oh, yeah. One of their leaders was killed during an attack at a night club, their number 5. Adam got promoted."

"I'll need to change my network lay out then." Sighed Charlie, getting up and moving Adam's picture up a spot. He wrote Jasmine's name in the top box in lieu of a photo.

"She mentioned that she has a silent partner." Colby hooked his fingers at the last two words. "Put another box next to her. They also have a name now. JK."

"JK?" David thought it a strange name, but the woman was English.

"Yeah, dunno what it stands for, didn't ask." Shrugged Colby. "I haven't finished yet." Everyone turned to face him expectantly. "The number 6 spot has been filled." He paused. "By me."

"Oh man." Mumbled Liz, a sentiment that was echoed by everyone else in the room.

* * *

**A/N: Yup, the psycho bitch, aka Jasmine, is back! Couldn't resist.**

**If updates slow down over the next week then I apologise. Sadly there has been a death in my family and my writing has had a bit of a block! Your patience would be much appreciated.**

**x**


	9. Test

**Disclaimer: Numb3rs, the characters, the decision to shorten the run – not mine. Jasmine and her gang, all mine.**

**A/N: I don't know as much about American law as perhaps I should, therefore some of this may be a little off the mark. I did some research, but found surprisingly little on the subject I was looking for, so I have taken some liberties, hopefully this doesn't offend anyone!**

Chapter Eight – Test

It had been two weeks since Colby had taken the number six spot within the JK gang's leadership. He was trying hard to keep a reasonably low profile and not break any laws, which was tough going. He had entered into 'negotiations' with another couple of gangs and secured further members through those. The JK gang numbers were now up around the thousand mark, something he felt extremely uncomfortable about, he knew, however, that when the time came to bring the gang leaders down the members that weren't caught in the clean up operation would gravitate back to their original gangs. He hoped, at least, to be in a position to help LAPD with better intel on those members.

Right now though he was having a bad day. He had been on his way to meet Adam at the bar, something they had taken to doing every few days. Several blocks away he looked up to see he was being followed by a police cruiser. He checked that he wasn't speeding and knew he hadn't broken any traffic laws, so just concentrated on his driving. He paused at a stop sign, checked both ways and pulled out, followed mere seconds later by the police, the next thing he knew he was being pulled over, he just couldn't figure out why. He looked in his rear view mirror and watched as two male officers exited the car, rolling down his window he kept his hands visible on the steering wheel after turning off the ignition.

"Afternoon Officer, can I help you?" He asked in a calm, polite voice.

"Licence and registration, Sir." The officer on his side of the car was a Sergeant and clearly had some considerable experience in traffic stops.

"Certainly, it's in the glove box, can I reach for it?" Colby was all too aware that reaching to the glove box without warning could land him in a lot of trouble. Receiving a nod he leant over and produced the documents requested.

The Sergeant took them and walked back towards their car, leaving the younger officer to keep an eye on Colby. On his return to the car the Sergeant had a look of determination on his face.

"Mr Granger, I am going to have to ask you to step out of the car please." The tone used was firm and no nonsense. Colby thought about asking why, but one look at the police Sergeant's demeanour told him it wouldn't be a wise question right at that moment, so he complied with the request. As he got out he noted that both officers had their hands resting lightly on their weapons. He raised an eyebrow in question, ensuring that his hands were well away from his body in a non-threatening manner, a posture he was becoming all too used to assuming. He really didn't like being on this side of the law one bit, he was about to like it even less.

"We have reason to believe that you are in possession of a concealed unlicensed weapon, we are going to search you and your vehicle."

Colby knew they had no cause for pulling him over or searching him or his vehicle, but he also knew that there was no weapon for them to find, so rather than cause a fuss he decided to let them do what they wanted, he was to live to regret that decision minutes later. Having patted him down for weapons, escorted him to sit in the back of their cruiser to enable them to search unimpeded he watched in abject horror as the Sergeant produced a gun from his car that hadn't been there previously. This was not good, he was being set up by an LAPD Sergeant. Damn he always managed to find himself in difficult situations when he least expected it.

"Mr Granger, step out of the vehicle." Ordered the Sergeant. Not in a position to argue he did as told and when instructed to place his hands behind his back he did so and winced as the cuffs were placed on his wrists, a little too tightly for his liking. He was Mirandised and placed back in the car. Sighing Colby had no choice but to go along with the situation, but he had every intention of calling his lawyer to sort this mess out. He remained silent on the ride to LAPD headquarters and during his booking, except to confirm who he was and request a phone call to his lawyer. He was allowed his phone call and was placed in an empty cell to wait for him to arrive. Several hours later Colby was released, he would have to pay a fine of $1000, according to his lawyer. He was in a foul mood, his car had been left at the side of the road, the area was not a good one and he wondered if, when he finally got back to it, it would be in one piece. His lawyer offered him a lift back to collect it and he readily agreed. When they reached his car it seemed to be intact, much to Colby's relief, he thanked the lawyer and watched as he drove off. Unlocking the car door he slid behind the wheel and breathed a sigh of relief, finally the day from hell was over. Unfortunately for Colby he was mistaken about that, it was about to get a whole lot worse. A car pulled up near him, but he didn't give it much thought, even though the street had no other traffic. Perhaps if he hadn't been so tired and angry he would have noticed something, as it was his door being wrenched open and being dragged from his car was the first sign that he was in trouble, again. He had a moment to reflect on what Gary had said about him becoming less observant, perhaps the LT was right. Recovering from the shock of being hauled out of his car he managed to find his feet, but was being firmly held on both sides by 2 large men, so no matter how much he struggled he was unable to pull free. The street was dark, no lights lit the area and there seemed to be absolutely nobody about, if there was they weren't prepared to step in and help. Another car pulled into the street, briefly lighting the scene, he got a good look at both men and the car that had pulled up near his. If he had been able to rub his eyes, he would have. The car looked like it was a black and white police unit, the 2 men appeared to be wearing LAPD uniforms. What the hell was going on? The car that had turned into the street pulled up next to them. He heard the door open and the interior of the vehicle lit up to reveal 4 other men, one of whom he recognised as the Sergeant from earlier that day.

"Take him over there." Said the man sitting in the passenger seat and pointing to something on the other side of the street.

Colby tried to resist, but the 2 men together were stronger than him. He was unceremoniously marched across the street, he could now see that they were entering a parking lot behind a dilapidated building. The car from the street turned in after them and stopped with it's headlights pointing towards the back wall of said building and the occupants got out and approached them. The 2 men holding him released their grip and stepped off to the side, Colby backed himself up against the wall behind him, hoping it would afford him some protection. Whatever was going on here was not good and he had no doubt he was going to be forced to defend himself. Once sure that he wasn't going anywhere, the 2 men dressed in LAPD uniforms grinned maliciously and left, he heard the sound of car doors closing and the car engine being started as they drove off, leaving him to the tender mercies of the 4 men.

"Hey fellas." He eyed the men, sizing them each up. They looked almost feral, they were sizing him up as if he were their prey.

"Fed." The biggest man stated, clearly the alpha male of the pack. Prudently Colby remained silent, figuring nothing he said would prevent these men from doing whatever it was they were about to do. They were like sharks scenting blood in the water, all of this was clearly intentional, he just couldn't work out if his cover had been blown or there was some deeper purpose behind it. He would protect himself as best as he could, but he knew he was no match for these 4 men at once. Watching them carefully he waited expectantly for them to make the first move, nobody was going to accuse him of throwing the first punch, anything that happened on his part would be purely self defence. He didn't have to wait long until the man to his right stepped quickly forward, fist raised. Colby blocked the punch easily, but couldn't watch four different directions at once and the second punch, from his left, found it's mark, landing squarely in his stomach. Not to be outdone Colby landed a solid punch on the man's jaw, one that knocked the man to the ground, causing him to hit his head and knocking him out. Colby felt a brief sense of satisfaction before he felt another punch being landed on his own jaw, he could have taken any one of these men in a fair fight, but this could not be considered fair. Despite having taken one of them out it was still 3 against 1, it didn't take Charlie to tell him that the odds were stacked against him. Still using the wall behind him to protect his back he continued to land punches of his own as he was knocked senseless. All his efforts to protect himself didn't go unrewarded and he managed to knock out a second man. Breathing heavily from the exertion and the beating he was taking he faced the 2 remaining men, who suddenly changed tactics and rushed him at the same time, powerless to do anything but try to step away from them, the wall at his back now became a hindrance, leaving him only one of two ways to go, choosing his left he wasn't quite quick enough and was grabbed by the larger of the 2 men and his arms pinned down, preventing him from fighting back. The other man took a sadistic pleasure in using Colby's midriff as a punching bag, it took several heavy blows before the Agent started to have trouble breathing, despite this he continued to struggle in his opponent's grip. Seemingly having had enough of holding onto Colby and wanting to get in some of his own punches he was pushed away from the man behind him, as he regained his balance he dimly saw a fist heading straight for him and felt the impact as it struck his left temple, knocking him to the ground. The parking lot around him became somewhat blurry, he attempted to get back up from his vulnerable position, but his tormentor wasn't about to let that happen and planted a heavy kick in his stomach causing him to gasp with the pain. The 2 men still standing looked at each other and the bigger man bent over Colby's body, pulled him up by the neck of his top and landed one final punch on his left cheek. Colby welcomed the darkness that over took him as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

* * *

Colby came round some time later, pain coursing through his body. He had no idea how long he had been out, but he was now alone in the abandoned lot Gingerly he tried to sit up, but as the world started to spin, his ribs protested and his stomach lurched, he came to the conclusion that it was a bad idea and laid himself back down slowly. He wondered how he was going to get himself back to his car and then in turn to his apartment. He tried sitting up once more and felt sure it wasn't going to happen, there was probably nothing broken, from what he could tell, but he also realised he was likely to have a concussion, driving was out of the question, even if he could make it back to his car. As he ran his hands over his body checking for any further injuries his hand brushed his phones tucked in his pocket. He pulled one out and checked it, much to his relief it was still working. Who was he going to call? He only had a vague recollection of where he was. Closing his eyes for a moment, he needed to think, should he call Don? Nope, he discarded that idea straight away, not knowing the reason for this beating he wasn't about to put any of his team in danger by getting them to come out here, wherever here was. Not to mention if his cover hadn't been blown then it would be if the first people he called were his ex-FBI teammates. Colby was having trouble thinking clearly, his vision was foggy and he was feeling nauseous, he just wanted to go to sleep. NO! He heard his own voice in his head, he had to stay awake, at least until he had got some help. Looking at the phone in his hand and realising it was the gang one, it suddenly dawned on him, Adam. He pressed speed dial 1 for Adam's cell phone and prayed that the man would answer.

"Archer." Came the welcome sound of Adam's voice.

"Adam, it's Colby, need your help." His voice sounded weak even to his own ears.

"Col? What's wrong? You sound like shit." The tone of the voice at the other end of his life line sounded concerned.

"Can you come get me? In a parking lot behind an abandoned building."

"Where?" Asked Adam urgently, he had no idea what was wrong, but it didn't sound good.

"Compton."

"Lotta streets in Compton man, gotta gimme more than that." Encouraged Adam.

Colby was desperately trying to remember something, anything that would lead Adam to him. "Shops." He closed his eyes, trying to picture where he was. "Bar."

"Name of the bar Colby, come on!" Adam knew his friend was in trouble but he was beginning to lose patience.

"Trying to remember."

"Try harder!" Adam was, by now, up on his feet at the bar and waving to Daz, who was immediately by his side. Covering the cell with one hand he turned and spoke to the other man. "Colby's in trouble, bring the car round." He ordered. Daz dashed off without question and had the car round the front of the bar and ready to go moments later, Adam jumped into the passenger seat. "Head for Compton."

"Where in Compton?"

"I dunno yet." Sighed Adam frustrated.

Giving his boss a puzzled look he did as he had been told without further questioning as Adam turned his attention back to the phone. "Col?" He was met by silence. "COLBY!" Yelled Adam down the phone.

"Wha… what?" Came the dazed response.

"Name of the bar?"

"Er…" Colby was finding it even harder to focus, but he knew he had to try. He closed his eyes and pictured the street where he had been pulled over earlier in the day. He saw the sign and suddenly knew the name. "Tenampa." He murmured, relieved he had finally remembered he allowed himself to drift into the darkness that had been beckoning him back, allowing his phone to fall and disconnect from Adam.

"Colby? Dammit got disconnected. Tenampa bar in Compton, you know where it is Daz?"

"Yes boss." Now he knew where he was going he put his foot down.

Adam and Daz arrived at the bar in short order and pulled up in the parking lot. There was no sign of Colby. "He said he was in a parking lot behind an abandoned building. Let's drive down the street and see if we can spot anything." Adam instructed. Daz nodded and pulled back out onto the street. "There. That's Col's car." Adam pointed to the other side of the street and Daz pulled the car up to the kerb. They got out and found the car unlocked, keys in the ignition. Looking round the dark street they couldn't see any sign of Colby. Adam picked up his phone and dialled Colby's number, they could just make out the faint ringing sound of a cell.

"Sounds like it's coming from over there boss." Daz turned and jogged across the street, closely followed by Adam. "Building certainly looks abandoned." They carried on round the side and could make out the glow of Colby's ringing phone, within seconds they were kneeling by his unconscious form.

"Colby? Can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes for me bud." Adam urged the man.

Colby could hear a ringing, it was beginning to annoy him, he tried to move to find out where it was coming from, but pain shot through his body. Then he heard a voice, familiar, friendly, worried. The voice wanted him to open his eyes. He tried, but only one eye would respond, but it was enough.

"Daz, call an ambulance!" Adam turned his full attention back to his injured friend. "Colby, man, what the hell happened?"

"Dunno, can't remember." Slurred the semi-conscious Colby.

"Ambulance on it's way boss." Informed Daz. He took off his jacket and laid it gently over the prone form at his feet, causing Adam to raise an eyebrow. Daz was not normally one for considering others, he shrugged in response and went back to the street to look out for the ambulance.

"Thought you'd had a better offer when you didn't turn up at the bar today man."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, clearly not your fault." Adam reassured Colby. He couldn't see him properly to assess how badly he had been injured, but from the lack of movement and response he figured his injuries weren't minor.

The ambulance pulled into the parking lot and the headlights lit up the scene and two paramedics jumped out.

"What happened? What's his name?" Asked the older of the two.

"His name is Colby Granger, I dunno what happened, got a call to come get him and found him like this. He's pretty outta it." Adam stepped out of their way.

The older paramedic quickly assessed the patient. He had clearly taken a thorough beating. He turned to his colleague and sent him back to get the backboard and a collar, better to be safe than sorry. In a matter of minutes they had loaded Colby into the back of the ambulance, connected him to oxygen, an IV and monitoring. Adam told the paramedics they would meet them at the hospital and the ambulance pulled off in the direction of St Francis Medical Center.

* * *

Adam and Daz walked into the ER and approached the reception desk. "Hi, we're here to see Colby Granger, he was brought in by ambulance a short time ago."

The woman on the other side of the desk smiled politely and checked her screen. "Oh yes, the Doctor is in with him now, I suggest you take a seat, he'll be with you when he's finished assessing the patient." She indicated a seating area. The two men sat on the hard plastic chairs to wait. They hadn't been there long when a Doctor approached them. "Are you here for Colby Granger?" She asked.

"Doc, I'm Colby's friend, how is he?" Asked Adam

"In a great deal of discomfort. He has a concussion, multiple contusions and lacerations to his face, his left eye is swollen shut and he has severe abdominal bruising. I am having him admitted, he will need to be closely monitored for at least 24 hours. We're about to transfer him to a room upstairs."

Adam nodded and the Doctor turned to go back to her patient and oversee his transfer to a room.

Shortly after Colby was wheeled out of the ER and to a room upstairs, Adam and Daz followed, they waited for the nurses to settle him before going in to see him for themselves.

"Hey Col, how ya feeling man?" Adam stood close to the side of the bed so Colby didn't have to move too much to see him.

"Been better."

"Have you remembered anything else?"

"Nope. It's all fuzzy." Colby frowned as much as his injuries would allow.

"Don't sweat it dude, sure it will come back to ya. We're gonna leave ya to get some rest now, but we'll be back in the morning, alright?"  
"Yeah, and thanks man."

Adam nodded before turning and following Daz out of the room and back to the car.

"Do you think it was Davies?" Daz asked.

"I dunno, but we'll find out. I'd better call the boss and let her know what happened." He sighed, not looking forward to sharing this news with Jasmine.

* * *

A nurse was checking Colby's vitals when he next opened his eye. "Hey, how are you feeling Mr Granger?"

"Hurts." He managed to respond.

"I'll speak to the doctor about getting you some more pain relief. Anything else I can get for you?"

Despite the pain he was in there was something bothering him. "Phone. Cell phone."

"You want me to pass you your cell phone?"

"Please."

She went to where his personal effects had been put and took out both his cells. "Er, you have 2, which one?" She walked over to his bedside and he pointed to the one he wanted. Handing it over she placed the other one back. "You need to rest, if you want to call someone I can do it for you."

"Thanks, but I'm good." He tucked the phone out of sight under his pillow, making sure it was switched off. He couldn't afford for Archer to find it.

"I'll see about that pain relief." She was back a few minutes later and gave him some more morphine and he drifted into a fitful sleep.


	10. Link

**Disclaimer: I own barely anything, so definitely don't own Numb3rs or the wonderful characters. (If I owned Colby he'd be in every episode!) I do own Jasmine and her gang.**

**A/N: Thank you for your continued reviews and support, it puts a smile on my face to know that there are people out there enjoying what I write.**

Chapter Nine – The Link

The following morning Adam was sitting quietly in a chair near Colby's bed. He looked up as the door opened and a nurse entered. She walked over to her patient, she checked and adjusted his IV and made a note of the readings on the monitor on his chart.

"Colby, can you hear me?" She asked softly. Her patient moved slightly and groaned. "Colby, are you OK?" She asked, concern tingeing her voice.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

Before the nurse could respond a doctor came into the room and approached his bed. "Morning Colby, I'm Doctor Jones, how are you feeling?"

"Like I got into a fight and lost." He murmured.

"I think that would certainly be an accurate description of how you ended up in here, just going to give you the once over." He turned to Adam. "Can you please wait outside." He waited for him to leave the room and pull the door shut behind him, then he quickly examined his patient. "All things considered you're doing fine. Are you in any pain?"

"Some, but I've had worse."

"I am sure you have, but there's no need to suffer in silence on my watch. I can give you something if you need it." He advised gently.

Looking at the doctor through his one good eye Colby decided now was not the time to play at being strong, he'd have enough time to do that once he was out of the hospital. "OK, something to take the edge off would be good, thanks."

"I'll write it up and get the nurse to administer some more morphine"

"Thanks Doc." Colby responded, wincing as he shifted his position slightly.

Doctor Jones turned and spoke to the nurse. "Nurse, please get Mr Granger 5 of morphine." The nurse nodded and went to do as requested. "If you need anything then just let the nurses know OK?"

"When can I get outta here?" Asked Colby, he hated hospitals, he had spent far too much time in them.

"You will be here for at least another 24 hours, we need to monitor your condition further." He watched as Colby sighed in resignation. "Get some rest, you're gonna be sore for a while." The doctor left the room, admitting Adam back in.

The nurse re-entered the room a few moments later. She administered the morphine into Colby's IV and spoke softly to him, resting her hand on his shoulder, checking the monitor once more and seemingly satisfied that her patient was once more comfortable she left him to rest, brushing passed Adam as she did so.

Colby didn't seem to realise that there was anyone else in the room with him, so Adam approached the bed. "Col?"

"Adam?"

"Yeah, it's me. How ya feeling?"

"Sore." His voice was barely a whisper, his mouth dry.

"Doctor Jones says you were lucky, concussion, cuts and bruises, no internal injuries." He passed Colby some water, holding the cup whilst he drank through a straw.  
"Thanks."

"Can you tell me what happened man?"

Colby lifted his head slowly to look around the room, he thought he knew what had happened the previous day, it had to have been a set up, he just didn't know why. "I can't remember."

"Don't lie to me Col. If you don't talk to me, I can't help you." Adam was getting frustrated.

"Don't need help." He was in pain and didn't have the patience for this. He had a feeling that what had happened was part of a bigger picture, until he had a better idea of what that was he didn't feel like sharing.

"Surely you want who ever did this to be dealt with?"

"Don't worry about that, they will be." Colby said ominously.

"If I were you I'd want all the help I could get." Pointed out Adam.

"You're not me!" Insisted the injured man.

"No, I'm not, but you called me last night man. You wanted my help then, why not now?"

Sighing Colby finally looked at Adam. "I'm not good at this."

"What?" Asked Adam, confused.

"Needing help. Being laid up."

"We're family Col, that's what family do, help each other. Now come on, tell me what happened." Insisted Adam.

After a moment of consideration Colby decided to tell Adam what he had been through. "I was arrested yesterday afternoon for carrying a concealed weapon in my car, it was planted, I didn't have my gun with me."

"You were set up?" Asked Adam with a raised eyebrow.

"Certainly looks that way." Colby then proceeded to fill the other man in on what had happened.

"I spoke to the boss when I left here last night. She's insisting that you go stay with her whilst you recover. You're in no condition to worry about taking care of this for the time being." Adam winced when Colby moved and he saw the spasm of pain cross the other man's face.

"You need to get some rest. Sleep, I'll be here when you wake up." Adam settled himself into the chair and watched over his friend whilst he tried to sleep.

* * *

"David, would you please sit down!" Megan was getting fed up watching the man pace up and down in front of her. She was sat on a bench in MacArthur Park, waiting for Lieutenant Walker to arrive. Liz and Don were also there, looking as anxious as she felt.

"We haven't heard from him in 2 days." David turned round to face her, his expression one of anguish.

"I'm sure he's fine, he probably just can't get away to call us." Liz tried to reassure him.

"He's called every day, he knows we'd worry if we didn't hear from him." Insisted David.

"Keep your voice down man. There's nothing we can do. We just have to sit tight and hope he's safe." Don didn't like it any more than his Agent, but they had little choice in the matter. He turned and saw Gary Walker heading in their direction. He looked at him questioningly. Gary shook his head in response.

"Sorry, nobody has heard anything." He said softly. He had told Don he would discreetly ask around the rest of the taskforce and try to find out if anyone had heard where Colby had vanished to. "He hasn't been seen with Archer or at the bar at all." He could see the team were worried sick at the vanishing act that Colby had pulled. Gary was questioning, in his own mind, what it meant. Either the FBI Agent had come seriously unstuck and was laying in a ditch somewhere or he really had switched sides and the undercover thing was just a ruse to throw them off the scent.

"We need to find him." David was desperate for news of his partner.

"I don't see what else we can do, he's not answering his cell. His apartment is a no go area." Megan sighed in frustration.

Don got up from where he was sitting next to Megan. How could he have let this happen? He should have pulled Colby out when he first told them about this operation, now he was missing and there was nothing he could do to locate him. He was going to go back to HQ and march up to Wright's office and tell him what he thought of this plan and insist that the AD rectify the situation and find Colby before it was too late, if it wasn't already.

"You can't do it, Don." Megan had materialised next to him, he hadn't even heard her move.

"What?" He asked the picture of innocence.

"Have it out with the AD." She stated knowingly.

Damn, how did she do that? It never ceased to amaze him how quickly she could climb inside his head and know what he was thinking, almost before he knew.

"She's right Eppes. If Granger is out there with Archer then you could make things worse by going to the AD. The operation would be a bust and everything he's been through would be for nothing." Walker said. Nagging doubts aside, he didn't want to see these gangs walk away scot free.

"I know you're right, but I just feel so helpless." He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at his watch, as was his custom when he was stressed. He turned to face the remainder of his team. "We'll give it another 48 hours, if we've heard nothing by then we'll go hunting for him, undercover operation be damned, we'll leave no rock unturned." The decision made, he felt much better. The rest of the team nodded their agreement.

* * *

The room was dark when Colby opened his one good eye, he had slept on and off through out the day, sitting up briefly to have some lunch and dinner before tiring and having to sleep again. He looked round the room and found he was alone for the first time today, Adam had refused to leave his side. Just like David would have at one time. He mentally shook himself, he couldn't allow his thoughts to go there, David couldn't be there, nor could the rest of the team, they didn't know where he was and that was the way it had to be, for now at least. He would protect them at all costs. He eased himself into a sitting position, grimacing at the pain it caused, and took his team cell out from under the pillow, he quickly turned it back on and sent a text to Don. "Don't worry, I'm OK, don't try to contact me, will be in touch in a few days." Turned it back off and slid it back under his pillow. Then he gently lowered himself back onto the bed and laid down. He stared up at the ceiling of the hospital room, wishing he could just hear his team's voices, hear their laughter, he missed working with them. His reverie was broken by Adam's return to the room.

"Hey man, how ya feeling?" The younger man asked as soon as he realised Colby was awake.

"A bit better, thanks. You know you don't have to hang around here, I'm fine."

"I know, but the boss asked me to keep an eye on ya!" Smirked Adam.

Colby wanted to roll his eyes but couldn't. "I don't need keeping an eye on." He responded irritably.

Adam chuckled, he was finding this new side to Colby Granger highly amusing. Colby on the other hand was far from amused. He was an FBI Agent (albeit a temporarily former one) and an ex-soldier, he did not need mothering or watching over like some invalid.

"Get outta here." He growled.

"No can do." Smiled Adam, sitting himself back down in the chair next to the bed. Colby closed his eyes, resigned to being babysat, and fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he next woke up, but he knew what had woken him, a throbbing headache, his cheekbone felt like he was being punched all over again and his ribs protested when he tried to find a more comfortable position, causing him to groan. Adam was immediately by his side.

"You OK?" He asked with concern, when he saw the look Colby was giving him he answered his own question. "Stupid question, I'll go find someone." He hurried from the room in search of a nurse or doctor.

He returned a few minutes later with Doctor Jones and a nurse in tow, he hadn't left them much choice when he had found them standing near the nurses station.

"Colby?" The Doctor reached the bed. His patient opened his eye and the doctor could see it was glazed with pain. He examined Colby quickly and efficiently before turning to the nurse. "10 of morphine and 5 of diazepam." She simply nodded and left the room to get the medication. "I'm going to give you some more pain relief and a muscle relaxant, OK?" Colby merely nodded slowly in response. "You're going to be in some considerable pain for a few days yet." His voice held a note of sympathy.

"Can I still get outta here tomorrow?" Colby asked, his voice gruff with the pain. Adam shook his head in disbelief.

Doctor Jones raised an eyebrow. "We'll discuss that in the morning." The nurse arrived and administered the medication into Colby's IV and before he could protest any further about his escape the drugs took effect and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Doctor Jones was examining Colby the next morning when Adam arrived, he had been kicked out shortly after his friend had fallen asleep, the nurses had told him, in no uncertain terms, that he could not stay the night and would need to return in the morning when visiting hours started again. He waited patiently outside the room until the door opened and he was allowed in.

"I have agreed that he can be discharged as long as he is careful and has someone to stay with him for the next 48 hours." The doctor told Adam.

"Not a problem Doc, a friend has offered to put him up for a few days."

"Good. You need to come back if you start vomiting, become dizzy or disorientated. If you want to get dressed, I'll go and fill out your discharge papers and a prescription for pain medication." He left the room, leaving his patient to get himself dressed.

"Lets get you outta here man. Daz is downstairs waiting to take you over to Jasmine's." Adam handed Colby a bag with some clothes in it. "Grabbed your keys when you fell asleep last night and went over to your place and packed some things."

"Right, thanks." Colby took the bag and watched as Adam left the room and pulled the door closed to allow him to get dressed in peace. He put his hand under the pillow and removed the team cell, glad he had had the foresight to move it, if he hadn't he would be facing some difficult questions about why he had two cells. He made his way slowly to the adjoining bathroom, removed the clothes he needed, freshened up and got dressed. He placed the cell in the bag and zipped it closed and joined Adam outside the room. They walked over to the nurses station where he signed his discharge papers and collected his prescription. Much to Colby's disgust he was then forced into a wheelchair and pushed out of the hospital to where Daz was waiting in the SUV.

Daz gave him a brief smile and waited as Adam helped him to settle himself in the passenger seat of the vehicle.

Colby had closed his eyes as soon as the SUV had pulled away from the hospital and didn't wake again until they pulled up outside the place Jasmine called home. He got slowly out of the vehicle and followed Adam into the warehouse, they walked in and as they crossed the space the door to the internal apartment opened to reveal Jasmine. "Bloody hell Colby." She gasped at the sight of him.

"Yeah, I know, I look like shit." He gave her a small smile.

She ushered him into her 'home' and led him to the guest room. "Get yourself undressed and into bed. Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'd just like to get some sleep, thanks. Those hospital beds are damned uncomfortable."

"Alright, shout if you need anything." She closed the door behind her and went to speak to Adam. "What the hell happened to him?"

"He got arrested, when he went to collect his car he was dragged from it to a vacant parking lot and beaten. He said that at least 1 of the men that carried out the beating was LAPD." Adam had a feeling that Jasmine was going to be having words with someone over this. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the meds they had stopped to get on the way over. "Hospital sent him home with these, an' here's a list of do's and don'ts."

"Thanks Adam. Why don't you head out, am sure you have lots to do." She smiled softly and planted a kiss on the man's cheek, causing him to blush.

"Yeah, er, gotta do the rounds of the clubs." He managed to stammer before hurrying out.

Jasmine went into the kitchen and put the bottle of meds on the side. She rested her hands on the edge of the sink. She was angry. He had no right to do this to Colby, he was hers to worry about. She had made sure that the ex-agent had been watched carefully. She had listened to several conversations he had had with his Mom, he told her that he had left the FBI but didn't want to discuss it with her further than that. When she had asked him about the other team members he assured her that he still spoke to them, there was a bond that would never be fully broken, but it was complicated now he had left. She was obviously not aware of his new, highly illegal, career path and he couldn't tell her that he had cut off all contact with the team without her asking him about it. Jasmine had been fully satisfied with everything that she had seen and heard. Her silent partner had obviously not agreed with her assessment, something she would be taking up with him as soon as she got the chance.

* * *

Colby woke in unfamiliar surroundings, he carefully sat up and looked around. The room was comfortably furnished with an en suite bathroom. The décor was not to his taste, but he could see Jasmine written all over it. A big four poster bed, lots of scatter cushions, a chaise longue against one wall. He pushed himself up from the comfortable bed and was going to freshen up when he heard the sound of slightly raised voices. Not giving much thought to what he was doing he headed for the door and quietly opened it, thus allowing the voices to clearly drift through from the sitting room to where he was.

"He could have been killed, what the hell were you thinking?" Jasmine's voice was laced with fury.

"I was thinking that I needed to know, for myself, whether he was on our side or not." The voice wasn't one Colby recognised, but was equally hostile.

"Didn't I tell you I had it covered?"

"You? I couldn't trust your judgement. You were in love with the man not 6 months ago." The male voice sneered.

"That doesn't give you the right to arrange to have him beaten half to death! He has been nothing but an asset since he joined us."

"Davies wouldn't agree." The man pointed out.

"He's an asshole. Colby didn't know where the meet was so couldn't have given it away. If you had spoken to me, you would have known that, since I arranged it that way!"

"Now I have confirmed for myself where his loyalties lay. If he had been working for the FBI or LAPD there is no doubt he would have called Eppes or Walker. Eppes may bend the rules but he's not dirty. The Lieutenant is a straight arrow and everyone in law enforcement knows it."

Colby drew in a sharp breath, just feet away sat the man who had arranged for him to be beaten to a pulp. It had all been a test. He allowed his emotions to take over, seeing red he walked quietly out of the room and across the office into the sitting room, both Jasmine and her male guest didn't see him until it was too late. He grabbed the man in a head lock and pulled him to his feet, despite his injuries he was still strong and fuelled with rage.

"You bastard!"

"Colby, it's OK."

"No, Jasmine, it's not. Far from it!"

The commotion had brought a couple of Jasmine's men running, she held up her hand to stop them. "Colby, let him go." She ordered. "Now!"

Growling he gave the man a hard push, sending him sprawling on to the sofa. The man quickly got to his feet and squared up to Colby. Jasmine quickly stepped between them. "Colby, go and get some clothes on. We'll talk about this when you come back." She looked at him, hoping that he would calm down. "Please." She said softly.

Colby had forgotten that he had been wearing nothing but boxers until Jasmine had told him to go put some clothes on. He nodded his agreement and turned nonchalantly back to the guest room, pretending that it didn't bother him in the slightest that he was walking around in his underwear. Once back in the room he dressed in the jeans and t-shirt he had worn back from the hospital, he took a couple of calming breaths before rejoining Jasmine and her 'silent partner' back in the sitting room. When he entered he sat opposite the man, never taking his eyes off him.


	11. Mole

**Disclaimer: Only in my dreams do I own Numb3rs or it's characters. Love to write about 'em though. Jasmine, Adam, Daz and the gang are all from my imagination.**

**A/N: As usual I hope you enjoy and I apologise for any liberties I may have taken!**

Chapter Ten – Mole.

Jasmine looked from one man to the other. Under normal circumstances she would protect her partner, but she knew he had gone too far this time, the bruises she had seen on Colby's torso had been evidence of that. She also knew that Colby could hold his own, but he was injured and needed time to recuperate, something getting into another fight, no matter how justified, would hinder.

"Colby, I want you to meet my business partner. Kevin Goodman."

"As in Captain Goodman?" He hadn't thought the corruption would have gone up as far as the Captain, his money had been on the Sergeant, he should have known better, the person you suspect the most is usually further down the food chain.

"The one and only." Responded Goodman.

Quick as a flash, and before anyone could stop him, Colby leant forward and grabbed the Captain's wrist, bending it back to almost breaking point. "Pull another stunt like yesterday and you may not live to regret it. I can do things to you that wouldn't even leave a mark, imagine what I could do if I didn't care about that." Colby's green eyes glinted with menace.

"Colby." Jasmine warned softly. "I think you've made your point, right Kev?"

"Yeah." The Captain breathed a sigh of relief as his wrist was released, he flexed it to double check nothing was broken. "I did what I had to do."

"You better realise that I'll do what I have to if you ever cross me again." Stated Colby.

"Just you remember Granger, that goes both ways." The man was not going to be cowed by this former FBI agent.

"Now if you have both finished posturing?" Exclaimed an exasperated Jasmine, there was far too much testosterone in her home for her liking. The men broke their staring match off and turned their attention back to Jasmine. "Kev, I think you should leave. Colby and I have some stuff we need to talk about."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll see you again soon Jasmine." He leant forward and planted a kiss on her cheek as he left, it didn't go unnoticed by Colby that the man grabbed her ass as he went.

"God that man's a pig." She sighed after he had gone.

"Why do business with him then?"

"He's a connected pig." Smiling she looked at Colby, concern clouded her eyes as she looked at him properly for the first time since he had arrived. "You don't look so good hun."

"Guess the doc didn't mean for me to exert myself when he said rest, huh?" He smiled wryly.

"Dammit Col. You need to learn to do as you're told." Getting up she headed to the kitchen, coming back into the room she handed Colby a glass of water, 2 of his pain meds and a sandwich. "Take those, eat, then go lay down."

"Yes Mom." Smirked Colby. He had forgotten how protective she could be, it was one of her better qualities, as opposed to her obsessive behaviour at least. Once he had eaten his sandwich and taken his pills he obediently headed off to bed, he was too tired and sore to argue. Grabbing Kevin Goodman had not been a smart move in his condition, but it had been the right one. He just needed to figure how to get the information to Gary and Don, then of course they would need proof, his word wouldn't swing it. He also intended to make sure that the Sergeant that was involved in his beating would go down along with his Captain.

* * *

Don was sitting at his desk, it had been 3 days since they'd last heard from Colby. There was a knot in his stomach the size of a fist. If anything had happened to his friend he wouldn't be held responsible for his actions. He looked around and saw David pretending to read through a file, he had read the same page a half dozen times, he had taken Colby's disappearance badly. Megan was keeping an eye on everyone but she was also having a hard time concentrating. Liz didn't know what to say, so said nothing, just staring at her computer screen. Sighing Don turned back to the paperwork in front of him, not really seeing it. It was at that moment his cell beeped, alerting him to a text. He picked it up, not really paying attention, it wasn't until he saw who it was from that he realised it was his 'Colby' cell. He wanted to shout out to the team, but couldn't. He quickly read it, his mouth dropping open, closing the phone, he summoned his team.

"Come on, lets get outta here, go grab a coffee or something."

They turned to look at him as if he was mad and were about to protest when they noticed the cell in his hand, the look on his face told them all they needed to know and they grabbed their jackets and followed him out, barely able to contain themselves. As soon as they were out of the building they hurried in the direction of Westwood Park. Once there they found a reasonably quiet spot and gathered expectantly round Don.

"Alright, it's not much, just a text, he's OK." Don quickly reassured them all.

"What'd it say?" Demanded David.

"Don't worry, I'm OK, don't try to contact me, will be in touch in a few days." Supplied Don.

"That's it?" Megan had been hoping for more.

"Yeah, that's it. At least we know he's alive." Pointed out Don.

"I'll take it." Liz responded simply.

"I won't feel better until I've seen him with my own eyes."

"David, we all feel the same." Megan put a hand on his arm and smiled at him. "For now this text will have to do."

It was a somewhat lighter hearted team that returned to Wilshire Boulevard to carry on working.

* * *

Jasmine leant in the doorway, watching the man sleeping in her guest bedroom. Her living arrangements were somewhat unorthodox, but it worked for her, she was well protected and lived very comfortably. Colby had been staying with her for 3 days now, he was much more mobile and his eye had opened enough to allow him to see better. Kevin Goodman had made a terrible mistake when he had decided to arrange to have Colby beaten to test his loyalty. There was no way that the man sleeping before her would let it drop, she was sure of it. She knew he wanted to return to his own apartment today, she had tried to persuade him to stay with her longer but he was an independent and stubborn man. She smiled as he stirred and pulled the door shut to allow him to wake up in peace, she returned to her own bedroom, showered and dressed, by the time she had finished he was up and in the kitchen making coffee.

"Morning Colby."

He turned to her and smiled, waggling the coffee pot at her questioningly. She nodded and he poured her a cup before joining her at the table. "I'm going home today Jasmine." He told her softly.

"I know." She sighed.

"Thanks for letting me stay here though, I do appreciate it." He meant it too, in a strange kind of way. He was missing his friends and right now she and Adam were the closest thing he had outside of the FBI team.

"Anytime Col, I mean it."  
"I know. Now can one of the guys drop me at my apartment?"

"Of course. You take care, we'll be speaking soon, I'm expecting to hear from a new contact about a further weapons buy."

"Just call when you have the details."

She got up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, he went to the guest room, picked up his stuff, by the time he was ready Jasmine had one of her men waiting outside in an SUV to take him home.

Opening his apartment door he breathed a sigh of relief. He was tired and just wanted to rest, but he knew that he needed to get some groceries first, another part about staying with Jasmine he had enjoyed, a well stocked fridge and cupboards. Not to mention he had a couple of phone calls to make. He was pretty sure that the text he had sent Don wouldn't have been quite enough to ease his team's minds. Dumping his stuff in the bedroom he headed straight back out. He made a point of stopping at a payphone, first calling the AD and checking in, he told him about the meeting with the Captain, they both agreed that it needed further investigation and proof, Colby's word wouldn't be enough. He then dialled Don's cell number, putting off the harder call till last.

"Yeah, Eppes." Came the gruff answer.

"It's me."

"Colby! Man, where ya been? You OK?"

"I'm fine Don." Colby tried to reassure his boss.

"It's been 5 days man, you sent 1 text, what the hell has been going on?" Don didn't mean to sound so angry, but he had been going out of his mind.

"Sorry, really, but I couldn't get away to contact you safely. I need to see you, all of you."

"OK, can you get to Charlie's this afternoon?" The lecture could wait until then.

"Yeah, no problem, see you then."

"Good, and Colby, it's good to hear from you." Don hung up feeling a lot better than he had a few short minutes ago, although he had no idea what had been going on with Colby for the last 5 days hearing his voice had been a relief.

* * *

Colby was once again stood outside the door of the Craftsman where Charlie and Alan Eppes lived. He could tell from the cars parked in the drive that everyone was here and he suddenly felt inexplicably nervous. How would the people inside take the news that he was about to impart.

"Are you going to stand there all day son?" The gentle voice of Alan broke through his reverie.

"Oh, hey Mr Eppes, sorry." He looked sheepishly at the older man.

Alan took in the young agent's appearance and wondered what had happened to him to cause the fading bruising and partially closed eye. "Don't be sorry, come in." Stepping over the threshold Colby caught the look of concern in the man's eyes.

"I'm OK, Mr Eppes."

"It's Alan, do I have to keep reminding you boys of that? And if that," He pointed at Colby's bruised face. "is anything to go by, you are not OK."

"Dad, leave him alone, if he says he's OK, then I'm sure that's true. Right Colb?" Asked Don.

He turned and smiled gratefully at him. "Yeah, hey Don."

It took all of Don's skills not reveal the shock he felt at seeing Colby's battered face. He had had no idea that the man had been injured. Seeing how uncomfortable the younger man was he decided to keep it light, plenty of time to get the answers he needed. "Course, when Megan gets a loada that she is gonna break out into mother hen mode." Pointing to Colby's face, he watched as the smile left Colby's face and he grinned.

"What you saying about me Eppes?" Asked Megan from behind him, having heard her name she had come out of the kitchen. She took one look at Colby and strode across the room. "My god, Colby!" She took his chin in her hand and gently turned his head so she could get a better look at his eye. Don and Alan exchanged amused glances behind her back.

"Megan, put my partner down." Sniggered David, making a half hearted attempt to come to his friend's rescue. He had a lot of questions for Colby, but now was not the time, he had seen Don's warning look.

Liz didn't want to be left out and joined them. "Whoa, Granger, that does not improve your chances of getting a date."

Colby stood amongst his friends, as tired as he had been when he got here, he now felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He followed them all back through to the dining area where Alan had, once again, laid on lunch, the person sitting there quietly waiting for them to return from greeting Colby caused him to swallow nervously. Walker got up from the table and approached him.

"Colby. Glad to see you're in one piece." Catching sight of his injuries he amended his comment. "Well almost one piece."

"Lieutenant." Colby nodded in his direction, before Don ushered him to a seat and pushed him into it, all too aware of how exhausted his agent looked. Alan put a mug of coffee and a plate loaded with food in front of him and watched with satisfaction as the man polished it off. The others asked him no questions, knowing Colby would tell them what he had to when he was ready. Alan headed back to the kitchen, indicating to Don that he should follow him.

"Dad?" He asked softly.

"He doesn't look good Donnie." He was clearly concerned about the youngest member of his son's team. "He's been through so much and now this, he looks exhausted."

"I know, we're going to keep an eye on him and make sure he's alright though. I won't let anything happen to him."

"You may not have any control over it." A voice came from behind him.

"I'm gonna put a bell on you so I can hear you coming Colb!"

"Sorry man, it's become an occupational hazard."  
Don shook his head and looked at his Dad, he obviously hadn't meant for Colby to hear what he had said.

"I appreciate your concern, both of you." He gave them both the first real smile they had seen from him in a long time, it actually reached his eyes. "Now, when you've finished worrying about things you can't control, how about coming back through and hearing what I have to say?"

"Alright, I'm coming." Don smiled as he followed him back into the dining room.

Colby waited for Don to sit back down and for Alan to return to the kitchen after he had cleared the table.

"What the hell happened to you man?" Asked David. "Why didn't you tell us you'd been hurt?"

"I'm sorry, it was safer for me, and all of you, if you didn't know." He hung his head slightly, he knew how worried they would have been. He told them what had happened 5 days ago, his arrest and beating. The demeanour of those sat around the table went from one of relief at seeing their friend and colleague safe to one of anger. Giving them a moment to process all he had told them, he dealt the final blow. "I know who Jasmine's LAPD partner is." He stated simply, looking directly at Walker.

"Go on." The Lieutenant encouraged.

"Captain Goodman."

"No way!" Asserted Walker.

"I saw him, with my own eyes, talking with Jasmine. He admitted to her that he had arranged for me to be arrested and beaten." He was not going to apologise for doing his job.

"Damn!" Liz was always managing to voice the others thoughts.

He was not done. "There's also the Sergeant that arrested me, I believe his name was Keller, he was one of the 4 men who put me in the hospital." He waited for the explosion that never happened.

"Well, I wish I could continue to deny anyone I work with was involved, say I don't believe it." Gary held his hand up to prevent Colby speaking further. "But, I do believe it. I've heard things about Sergeant Keller, and they weren't particularly good. I like to form my own opinions of people, but I haven't had much to do with him as he's not part of the gang unit."

Charlie had been sitting silently listening. "Can we get hold of personnel files of officers that have a connection to Captain Goodman and maybe this Sergeant as well?" He asked Gary. Charlie thought if he could see those he may be able to figure out, via social networking, who else was involved.

"Not a good idea, Charlie." Put in Colby.

"Why?"

"If Gary goes poking around the personnel files it might tip the Captain off that we're on to him." Megan informed him.

"There may be a way around that." He glanced up to see everyone looking at him questioningly. "Amita…"

"OK, we can't hear this Charlie." Don quickly cut in.

"Hey, Charlie, feel like showing me what you're working on in the garage?" Colby winked at him.

"You know, there might be something in there of interest to you." Grinned Charlie, understanding immediately that what he was about to suggest could cause everyone in the room to lose their jobs. Colby was the only probable exception as he was working outside of the rules to some degree. A heavy silence followed as Charlie and Colby left the room.

It was finally broken by Gary. "We need to put a stop to this."

"Preferably sooner rather than later and with Colby coming out in one piece." Agreed Don.

* * *

"You were saying?" Asked Colby.

"Amita could, er, hack into the LAPD personnel files. I am sure if I explained why I needed her to, she would do it."

"Charlie, I appreciate the idea, but I don't want to drag anyone else into this mess."

"You wouldn't be dragging her into it. The decision would be hers to make. Colby, I know you're worried about everyone else, but have you stopped to think about how worried we are about you? If this will help get you out sooner, then you need to let us try, please?" Charlie's eyes were filled with sincere concern.

"You can't tell her the full story, it's too risky."

"Alright, I'll come up with something to explain why we're doing it, just so long as you will let us do it."

"Alright bud." Colby turned to head back to the dining room. "And, thanks."

Wearily he walked back through the house to where the others were still talking, he needed some fresh air, he could feel the worry radiating off the team and he wasn't ready to face that again at that moment, he needed some time to get his thoughts together. He diverted through a side door and stepped into the garden. He headed straight for the bench near the koi pond, he remembered both Charlie and Don had told him that it was a place they liked to come when they needed to just sit.

His body was clearly not ready to keep up the pace he was setting, his aching ribs and pounding head were letting him know that he was reaching a point where he would need to stop and rest. He lowered himself onto the bench, he stared into the water, watching as the koi swam in, what appeared to him at least, aimless circles. He was sure Charlie had an algorithm or expression of some sort that proved that the circling wasn't aimless, a thought that made him smile slightly, he hoped the whizz kid would come through for him, the same as he had on some many previous occasions. Watching the fish swimming was strangely calming, he still felt exhausted, but he was feeling more relaxed and he closed his eyes allowing the afternoon sun to warm him, unaware that he was being watched.


	12. Weary

**Disclaimer: There have been no miracles since I last posted a chapter, so still don't own Numb3rs or any of its characters.**

**A/N: Well here we are, another chapter. I really hope you enjoy.**

Chapter Eleven – Weary

"Donnie." Alan turned back into the house and called his eldest son to him.

"What's up Dad?" He followed his father's gaze to where Colby was sitting, legs stretched in front of him, head resting on his chest. "Ah."

"Go and get him, take him up to your old room, he needs to get some rest, I'll make the bed up." Alan instructed Don. Not needing to be told twice he walked into the garden.

"Colb?" He said softly, not wanting to startle the weary agent.

"Sorry Don." Colby replied sitting up quickly, too quickly for his still healing abdomen.

"Hey, don't be sorry. You need some rest man. Come on, you can use my old room."

"That's not necessary. I'm fine." The slight waver in his voice was not convincing.

"Colby, you're not." Don decided it was time to use his 'boss' voice. "You are gonna get your backside off that bench, into the house and up the stairs, now!" He insisted firmly.

He was all set to argue when reinforcements appeared in the form of Gary Walker. "Do as you're told Colby. You're safe here, among friends, you can get some rest knowing that."

Colby looked from Don to Gary, surprised to find that the Lieutenant was so concerned. It was the first time since this all started that he really felt that the LAPD officer believed and supported him in what he was doing. Maybe it was that, or the tone Don had used, or perhaps it was just because he was bone tired, he got up from the bench and allowed Don to lead him back into the house. As they walked through to the stairs Alan was coming down them.

"Bed is all ready for you, a glass of water is on the nightstand so you can take those pain meds I know the hospital must have given you. Sleep well." He eyed Colby knowingly.

"Thank you Alan." He smiled as he walked passed him and on up the stairs. Entering Don's old bedroom he lowered himself slowly onto the bed and under the watchful eye of his SAC took one of his painkillers.

"Anything else you need Colby?"

"No, thanks."

"Sleep, you have nothing to worry about right now." Don closed the door and went back downstairs to join the others.

Colby sat for a few minutes before finally getting stripped down to his boxers and climbing under the covers. He found that, for the first time in weeks, he could actually relax completely. Gary was right, he was safe here, none of the people downstairs would let anything happen to him whilst he slept. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

* * *

"Think we should wake him?" Asked Don, he had slept on the sofa, not wanting to leave Colby.

"Leave him be, he'll wake when he's ready." Replied Alan pouring out coffee for both his sons.

"He's been asleep for about 17 hours, do you think he's alright?"

"Charlie, he's fine, just exhausted." Assured Alan, unsure when his boys became such worriers.

"Maybe I should just check on him."

"No need, I'm up!" Colby stood in the archway leading into the dining room, looking very dishevelled but definitely better than he had yesterday when they had insisted he go to bed.

"Hey Colb, how ya feeling?" Don eyed him carefully.

"Much better, thanks. I feel almost normal again." He smiled at the mention of feeling normal.

"Why don't you grab a shower? There are clean towels on the side of the tub and David left some sweat pants and a t-shirt for you." Offered Alan.

"Hope they're clean too." Grinned Colby.

"Nah, he wore them when we went for a jog after work." Laughed Don. "Course they're clean."

"Thanks, for everything, I really appreciate you letting me stay here like that."

Charlie waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. We're happy to be able to do something to help."

Alan prepared some breakfast whilst Colby had his shower and changed into the clothes left for him, by the time he'd finished Alan had a pile of eggs and bacon on a plate waiting. The four men spent a pleasant hour chatting about anything but the case and it was a refreshed, well fed Colby that left the Eppes residence a couple of hours later in a cab.

* * *

Amita and Charlie were working flat out in the garage. She had happily agreed to do what was being asked of her based on the fact that if there was any other way to do it she knew Charlie wouldn't be asking. She had asked for no details, but knew it had something to do with Colby. They had found a dozen folders of officers that could be linked to Sergeant Keller, they were in various precincts across the LA region. The most interesting thing they had found was that all those they had highlighted could be connected with the Captain as well. Once they had the information Charlie kissed Amita and she left with a promise he would take her out for dinner as soon as he could, then he would explain everything.

Picking up his cell he called Don who promised to round the team up and bring them over to hear what he had to say.

Don had in turn called Colby, who had reluctantly declined the invitation to join them, he didn't think disappearing for the second day in a row would be a wise idea. He agreed to call Don later that night so they could discuss what Charlie and Amita had found.

Gary Walker arrived at the Craftsman before Eppes and his team. He hesitated not knowing if he should wait, deciding he was expected he got out of his car and knocked on the door.

"Gary, thanks for stopping by." He was greeted warmly by Charlie.

"How could I resist your invitation, I'm intrigued." He responded, shaking the outstretched hand offered to him.

"Come through to the garage, Don will be here shortly." Charlie led the way through to the garage when he suddenly remembered his manners. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Coffee would be good." Smiled Gary.

"Go on through, I'll get some and be right with you."

Walking into the garage Gary had to smile. On one side was Professor Eppes' cognitive emergence theory work, on the other side was Charlie Eppes' work for the FBI, well kind of, since he wasn't officially investigating this, the same as the rest of them. Gary approached the chalkboard where 12 photos of various LAPD officers and the Captain were pinned, with lines drawn between them. Lines of connection it would seem. He took a moment to look at every single photo, he had been working at various precincts within LAPD his whole career, the last 10 of those years had been on the gang unit working out of HQ, he recognised every one of the faces. He had been hoping that Granger had been wrong, that it had all been a mistake, but he couldn't deny that all the individuals in front of him linked and he could see no reason that Granger had to lie about meeting the Captain at Jasmine's, not after he had taken such a beating, all to prove that he wasn't the good guy the Captain had suspected. He felt sick at the idea men, and women, that he had worked with could be involved with a gang. He sighed heavily.

"Sorry Gary." Don said softly from behind him. "I know this must be hard."

"Don, I hope you never have to find out how truly hard it is. Years I have been on the force, you know corruption is rife within law enforcement, but it took an FBI Agent to show me what was going on right under my nose!"

"Man, when Colby was found to be a spy I thought my judgement was seriously impaired, I had seen the makings of a brilliant agent, only to have evidence put in front of me to the contrary. That's as close as I wanna come to having to deal with corruption in the FBI. I'm sure it exists, but we just don't see it."

"At least Granger was undercover. What's his excuse?" Asked Gary contemptuously, pointing at the picture of his Captain.

"I dunno, but we'll find out, that I promise you." He momentarily rested his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder, a way of reaffirming that promise. "I think this is more widespread than even the Chief or AD thought."

"I hope that we can get all of 'em, every damn, last one, they dishonour the badge and anyone who protects the citizen's of LA!"

Charlie came into the garage at that moment, carrying a tray and followed by Megan, David and Liz. He could tell from the look on Gary's face that he didn't have to explain how they all connected, he had been able to see for himself. Still he took the time to show the others. Describing how two of the men had been at the Academy with the Captain, they had each gone their separate ways until he had been promoted to Lieutenant, he then used his position to bring his two buddies to the same precinct he was in. It then seemed that those two men brought another four people into the group, including two female officers and over the years five other people joined them in various ways, transfers from other divisions amongst them. It was difficult to tell if all 12 were dirty, though they knew for sure one of them was, Sergeant Keller, the last of the links between them. When Charlie had looked deeper into each personnel file there had been personal connections of some description with each of the group on the board and the Captain, he had known the father's of two of those linked, been partner's with the brother of another. They would certainly need to investigate each individual on the board carefully.

"How are we going to do this Don? Do we start with the Captain and work our way down or start at the bottom and work our way up to him?" Liz wanted to know.

"I don't think either way will work. Start at the bottom and if they're dirty then the Captain will hear about it and will know we're on to him. Start at the top and the rest will scatter and escape prosecution." Gary felt strongly about ensuring they got everyone involved in this.

"He's right. We're going to need to do a co-ordinated approach. We'll need to wait until Colby has a situation where the Captain is going to be involved, at the same time we take him we're going to have to bring the others in for questioning."

"In the meantime we need to watch them, we'll need proof, it's no good bringing them in for questioning without proof, they'll all just clam up." Chimed in Megan.

"Agreed, but there's too many of them to watch, we can't bring anyone else in on this, we don't know if it goes any further than these people." Don looked concerned.

"I might be able to help with that." Charlie was met by the usual look of confusion he got prior to explaining his latest idea. "Probability. I can look at each of these individuals and use a probability matrix to decide who is most likely to be dirty, not to mention who the weakest link is. It may be as simple as picking the right one and getting them to testify against the rest."

"Good Charlie, do it. Once you've figured that out we'll set up surveillance between us." Don's suggestion was met with nods of agreement from everyone.

* * *

Don and Gary were watching Keller, it had been 2 days since Charlie had suggested using a probability matrix. His findings had produced 2 other likely candidates. Megan and Liz were watching Officer Sara Bradley, David currently had his eye on Officer Jon Stacy. They had been alternating between their 3 targets, ensuring that no one person watched another for too long. Already there was evidence that they could use as leverage should it become necessary. Photos had been taken of each person with various felons, they were being none too discreet, both Don and Gary agreed that this was because they had been getting away with it for too long and had become over confident that nobody knew about their extra curricular activities. Particular attention was being paid to Keller, all of the team, Walker included, planned to ensure that the man went away for a long time for his part in the beating of Colby Granger, Special Agent, FBI. Knowing that Walker was now 100% behind Colby was a relief to Don, he had someone he could discuss his fears with freely. Oh, he talked to Megan, David and Liz, but they were too close to the situation, their main focus was getting Colby out in one piece. As much as that was Don's goal, he worried about what would happen to Granger once they extracted him from the gang.

"He's gonna be alright Eppes." Walker spoke softly.

"I wish I could believe that Gary, but this has gotta be messing with his head." He turned in his seat to look the LT in the eye.

"It will be, however I have no doubt that between you, Sinclair, Reeves and Warner that he'll come out the other side of this. I'm not saying he won't be scarred by it, but if I've learnt nothing else about Granger, I've learnt he won't let it destroy him, he's too damn stubborn!"

That got a small smile from Don. "Ain't that the truth. I still remember the first case he worked with us. David accused him of selling wolf tickets, too hot headed with a soldier mentality."

"Now look at them. I've never seen a tighter partnership, hell you've got a great team Eppes. You need to have faith that they'll get each other, and you, through this."

"Oh, we'll get through it Gary, my concern is what happens when it's over."

Walker returned Don's gaze, confusion etched across his face. "How'd you mean?"

"JK now has close to 1000 members. We take this gang down there are likely to be a lot of gang members gunning for Colby. How is he going to go back to being an FBI Agent in LA?" Worry oozed from every pore of the SAC.

Gary thought long and hard before he next spoke, knowing that Don Eppes needed support at that moment. A strong leader, he always seemed to turn to Gary for reassurance when they worked together, it wasn't necessary, Special Agent in Charge Eppes was more than capable of getting his team through this, the same as any other situation, Gary just needed to make him see that for himself. "What you say is true, coming back to the team may not be an option for him this time. Having said that if anyone can face down the gangs of LA to keep him here, working for Violent Crimes, it's you and your team. Chances are when JK gets broken up the gang members that joined from other gangs, that we don't catch with their pants down, will gravitate back to their previous gangs. Nothing will change for them. The ones you're going to have to look out for are the leaders, they'll want to save face and are most likely to come after Granger. If that should happen the LAPD Gang Unit will have yours and your team's backs."

Somehow nothing that Walker said had helped, but Don felt better knowing that Gary would make sure that LAPD assisted in anyway they could. Maybe he was living in a dream world, hoping that Colby could return to work with them after this. Chances were good that he would have a target on his back, but when didn't Colby attract trouble, it didn't take him going undercover to land him in hot water. What ever happened they would need to take it as it came, dealing with what came their way with their usual fortitude.

"Thanks Gary." Don said softly.

"For what?"

"Saying what needed to be said, being honest."

"Eppes, I'll always tell it like it is."

That said they fell into a companionable silence, watching Keller finish his lunch at the coffee shop across the street.

* * *

Colby had made sure he had limited contact with his team since leaving Jasmine's a week ago, sure that men working for Jasmine or Goodman were constantly watching him. He had been to Charlie's that first day but since then he had not seen them, though he made sure he had some contact once a day with Don, either via a call or a text. On the other hand Adam and Daz he had seen every day. The first couple of days he had just laid around his apartment needing to allow his body time to recover. Adam and Daz had appeared both days, bringing food and beer with them. Colby gratefully accepted the food but not the beer, he was still taking his pain meds. It surprised him that he was so willing to take medication to help get him through the worst of the pain, he must be getting old, he had thought to himself. He had actually welcomed Adam's company, it left him less time to wallow and miss his law enforcement friends, people he could no longer have contact with. Then of course there was Sam and Jenny. It had been weeks since he had last seen them, he hadn't even had a chance to say anything about leaving. He knew Don had told Sam he was going through some stuff and being fired had finally sent him away to try to deal with it. Don had told Colby she seemed to accept the explanation, insisting that Don tell him when he returned she was there for him if he needed her. It was, of course, harder to explain to Jenny, she was 8 years old, but extremely intuitive for her age. He thought of her as a mini profiler. It had been Jenny who had persuaded him to return to the FBI after a leave of absence, she had sat on his lap and asked questions that no adult had dared to. He had to ensure that he stayed away from them, it was the only way to keep them safe.

His lack of contact with Don and the rest of the team was about to come to an abrupt end, he received a phone call from Jasmine, she requested his presence at the warehouse for a meeting with Adam and the other gang leaders that evening. This was it, he was going to get to put some more names on Charlie's network diagram. Colby in turn called Don and let him know what was going on.

"Colby?"

"Don, I've been summoned back to the warehouse this evening, big meeting, something's up."

"What do you think is going down?" Not wasting anytime asking what he needed to know.

"Honestly? I have no idea. All the leaders meeting in one place at the same time means it's gotta be big, man."

"We'll get surveillance set up."

"Don, be careful, they spot you and the games up."

"Hey dude, don't be worrying about us, you worry about taking care of yourself, you hear?"

"Yeah. I'll be in touch as soon as I can after the meeting." Colby hung up feeling less than happy about the situation he was walking into that evening. He called the AD to let him know that things were moving along with the investigation. He spent the rest of the day aimlessly wandering round his apartment. No sooner would he sit and watch some TV than he would be up and in the kitchen making himself a drink, tidying up something that didn't really need tidying and just generally trying to keep himself busy.

All too soon it was time to get ready to leave for the warehouse. Colby grabbed his gun and placed it reassuringly in the small of his back, pulling his shirt down to cover it's presence. He made sure he had his cells and wallet before locking the apartment door and heading to his car.


	13. Risk Vs Reward

**Disclaimer: I've asked Santa to bring me Numb3rs for Christmas, but in the meantime I don't own it, or the characters. (Perhaps Santa could at least wrap Colby up for me?!)**

**A/N: I hope this chapter meets with the readers approval, I tried to research as much as possible, but some of it is probably off the mark! **

Chapter Twelve – Risk Vs Reward

Colby pulled up outside Jasmine's warehouse, it seemed all the other players had arrived at the party already since the area outside was filled with cars of all shapes and sizes. He spotted an Audi R8 as well as various SUVs, showing that not all gang bangers drove round in pimped up SUVs and gold chains. He pulled his Dodge Charger in next to the R8, getting out of the car he approached the door, his arrival had obviously been watched as the door opened before he could knock. Stepping inside he was met by Jasmine who led him through to the apartment, on entering he saw Adam, Captain Goodman, Sean, Josh and 4 others that he didn't recognise, two of whom were women, much to Colby's surprise. It was unusual for a gang to be run by a woman, but to have 2 more as leaders of the same gang was even rarer. Jasmine quickly introduced him to the 4 he didn't know, he made a mental note of the names in order to pass them on to the AD, as well as Don, later.

"Can I get you a drink?" Jasmine asked solicitously, playing the role of hostess to the hilt.

"I'll take a beer, please." Responded Colby, which he was duly handed.

"Lets get started." Goodman said impatiently.

"Take a seat Colby." Jasmine motioned to a chair next to Adam, once he was seated she turned and addressed the group at large. "We have a situation, 18th Street have become aware of our growing membership. As yet they have made no overt moves, but we need to be prepared." This news was met by a few murmurs and nods of agreement. "That being the case we need to make sure that every member is sufficiently armed in order to protect themselves and their family members. I want each of you to distribute extra weapons and ammo amongst our members." This was the side of Jasmine that had always freaked Colby out, she was soft and gentle one minute, then cold and calculating the next, her mood could change on a whim. He had been on the receiving end of her moods and he didn't fancy being there again.

"With nearly a thousand members we're not going to have enough to go around." Pointed out Adam.

"That's why Colby and I will be meeting with a new supplier tomorrow night." This was news to him. "In the meantime keep your ears to the ground, any sign that 18th Street are going to take action I wanna know about it. Understood?" She received nods from everyone. "Right, business outta the way, there's food laid out in the other room, help yourselves." Colby watched as everyone else got up and left the room, he remained where he was and waited for Jasmine to join him.

"What time and where?" Asked Colby getting straight to the point.

"Come here for 7pm, we'll have something to eat and you can drive me to the meet."

"Only the 2 of us going?"

"Yes, new supplier, don't want to make him jumpy by turning up mob handed. You OK with that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Course, just want to know what I'm going into. Who's the supplier?"

"That's need to know, and right now you don't need to. You trust me don't you?" She asked, watching his response carefully.

Hell no, psycho bitch, thought Colby. "Of course." He replied.

"Good, now lets go and join the others."

He followed her into the other room and mingled with the gang leaders, watching, listening, absorbing information that he might need in the future.

* * *

Colby left the warehouse around 11pm, he was tired and needed to make some phone calls before going back to his apartment, he had taken to using his cell, he regularly checked his car for bugs and finding a convenient payphone whilst being watched was getting harder.

"Wright."

"Sir, Granger here. Meeting just concluded, things are starting to come together, got to meet the other gang leaders." He provided the names and then added. "There may be a problem though. 18th Street have got wind of something going on, they may be getting ready to make a move."

"OK, keep your ears and eyes open, let me know if anything new comes to light." The AD stated dismissively, clearly not worried about what he had just heard. Colby felt that the AD was being a little blasé about the situation, but then he wasn't the one out on a limb.

"Yes Sir. Got a meet with a weapons supplier tomorrow night, don't know who it is yet, will have more information following the meet."

"Good, call me then." The AD hung up the phone. Sighing Colby dialled Don.

"Eppes." Came the standard response.

"Don, we got a problem."

"Colb? What's up?"

"18th Street have become aware of the increased activity, Jasmine thinks they may be about to a make a move."  
"Shit." Don's expletive was heartfelt and welcomed by Colby, at least someone shared his concerns.

"Got a meet with a new weapons supplier tomorrow night, even with the arsenal they've got in that warehouse, it's not enough to defend them against 18th Street. I have no idea who it is either, Jasmine wouldn't tell me."

In a completely opposite reaction to the AD, Don voiced his concerns. "This ain't good. Could be heading for a turf war, if it does then we'll have more to worry about than dirty LAPD cops."

"Yeah, I know. We've got to bring down JK, and soon, before this escalates."

"Go to the meet tomorrow night, call me when you've finished. Once we know who the supplier is we may be able to come up with a plan to end this."

"I also have 4 more names for Charlie to plug into his network diagram." He quickly supplied the names.

"I'll get Liz to run the names and pass them on to Charlie as well." Assured Don.

"Right. Speak to you tomorrow night." Colby was about to hang up when Don's voice stopped him.

"Colby."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful bud."

"Always."

"I mean it. Any sign of trouble, you get out, you hear?" Don's voice was firm, as well as a little worried.

"I hear ya. I'll call tomorrow night." He hung up the phone, he had done nothing to allay Don's fears, but really there was little he could do. He didn't even want to think about what would happen to him if there was a turf war between 18th Street and JK.

* * *

Jasmine had prepared a lasagne for dinner, everything was ready, she was just waiting for Colby to arrive. Adam had spoken with her the previous night and asked her if she was sure that she wanted to go to a meet with a new supplier with just Colby. She had assured the concerned man that she would be perfectly safe, she had seen him in action and had no doubt that he could protect her from any threats that may arise. She sipped a glass of white wine whilst she waited, savouring the taste, she closed her eyes. Her thoughts started to wander back to the previous year when she had first met Colby Granger. Those green eyes of his had melted her heart, if she had been a different person then a relationship between them could have worked out, but she was unbalanced, even she admitted that now. She wasn't cut out for an honest life. That gave her some food for thought. She had thought that Colby wouldn't be cut out for her kind of life, but it would seem she had been wrong about that, he had thrown himself whole heartedly into the gang life, shown no hesitation in doing what was needed. Perhaps there was a chance for them after all. A soft smile spread across her face, the FBI's loss would truly be her gain, he would become her partner in everything, Goodman would be out, Colby in. In all honesty she thought that Goodman was a complete idiot, he had no clue when enough was enough, he had no idea how to be subtle, going at everything like a bull in a china shop. Colby, on the other hand, was a master at stepping around obstacles, coming up with the best way to do something without attracting too much attention. The more she thought about it, the more she realised he was perfect for this life. There was a knock at the apartment door, she got up and opened it, the object of her thoughts stood before her. She took a few seconds to take in his appearance, the top he was wearing tight enough to show his sculpted muscular form. Leaning forward she planted a kiss on his cheek, then took his hand and led him through to the kitchen area. She smiled at him and passed him a beer, indicating that he should take a seat at the table.

During this exchange Colby had been watching her carefully, he had a sinking feeling that she had once again set her sights on him in a way that was not purely platonic. Taking the beer he smiled his thanks, wondering how he had once again managed to draw her to him, seemingly without even trying. If only he had that kind of success with non-psycho women, he might not be a bachelor still. Sam had been the closest he had come to a relationship in recent years, and that was platonic, at least for the time being, both wanting to enjoy the friendship that they had formed.

"Col, you OK?" Jasmine's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Yeah, fine." He replied, smiling and giving her his full attention.

"You seemed miles away."

"Just thinking about the meet tonight, that's all."

"I'll dish up dinner and we can talk about it whilst we eat, get you up to speed with the details." She turned and took the perfectly cooked lasagne out of the oven and put a plateful in front of him, he helped himself to salad and tucked into the food, he was hungry and she was, after all, a good cook.

"So who's the guy we're meeting?"

"His name is Derek Santos." Before she could go on Colby spluttered as he recognised the name. "You know him?" She asked.

"Er, yeah. Jasmine, he's 18th Street's weapons supplier!" He expected to see a look of surprise on her face, instead he saw nothing but serene calm.

"I know." She stated simply.

"You know? Are you insane?! The man supplies weapons to the biggest gang in LA, one that, may I remind you, are less than happy with the numbers of this gang and now you want to use the same weapons supplier?" He was aghast. Jasmine gave him a beatific smile in response. The woman had clearly lost the plot entirely as far as Colby was concerned, she might as well be pinning a target to the backs of every JK member, including his.

"It's OK Col, I know what I'm doing. The man doesn't care who buys his weapons, he has no loyalty to 18th Street." She seemed to really believe what she was saying, he wished he had her confidence. "Now finish your meal, we'll be late if we don't leave soon, I'm just going to freshen up." He watched her leave the room, then looked back down at the half finished plate of food, which he pushed away, suddenly he had lost his appetite, he wasn't sure if he would have the chance to get it back before he ended up buried 6 feet under where nobody would ever find his body. Crossing 18th Street, wow, definitely insane. He wondered if this constituted a sign of trouble, Don would probably say it did, he would go to this meet tonight and assess the situation. Jasmine returned to the room and beckoned him to follow her. She walked to an SUV and threw him the keys, he opened the door for her, ever the gentleman, before going round and climbing behind the wheel.

Arriving at the meet he was relieved to find that it wasn't, at least, on Mexicali territory. He went round to the passenger side and opened the door, waiting for Jasmine to slide out, he then followed her to the office building in front of them. At first glance it looked like an ordinary office, it wasn't until you stepped through the security doors that you realised it was anything but, there were armed men dotted at strategic spots throughout the building. They were searched and Colby's gun removed, with assurances it would be returned to him when they left. He felt naked without it, especially considering the fire power around him, though if he was honest if this went badly his gun wouldn't do him any good, he'd be dead before he could get more than a couple of shots off. He followed Jasmine and one of Santos' goons along a corridor to an office, they were greeted there by Derek Santos, a formidable looking man, dressed in a $2000 suit. He had a chest like a barrel, stood a good 6 feet tall, a shaved head and the darkest eyes Colby had ever seen. Really not someone he would want to meet in a dark alley, or in a plush office building surrounded by armed men either for that matter.

"Please, come in, sit." He motioned to a grouping of chairs in one corner of his office.

"Derek, thanks for meeting with us." Jasmine bestowed the man with a sizzler of a smile. "Let me introduce you to my colleague. This is Colby Granger."

Colby walked over to join them and Derek held his hand out, which he reluctantly took. "Ah, former FBI Agent Granger. I've heard a lot about you. It's good to finally meet you in person." The man smiled, but it never reached his eyes and Colby had to suppress a shudder.

"Mr Santos, it's a pleasure, your reputation precedes you." Colby remained cool, but polite.

The 3 sat down. "Can I get you anything?" Santos was polite and business like. Both Jasmine and Colby declined his offer, wanting to get down to business. "Very well, how can I be of assistance to you?"

"Due to unforeseen circumstances we no longer have a weapons supplier, we are in need of weapons and you, Derek, are the best we know of."

"Ah, flattery will get you nowhere, Jasmine." He smiled coldly. "Still, I am a business man, perhaps you can tell me what your requirements are?"

Jasmine looked at Colby, indicating that he should handle this. He nodded and turned his full attention to Santos. "We require 500 P90s and 500 MAC 10's, 5 clips of ammo for each."

"That's a lot of weapons and ammo. Are you planning your own war?"

"What we intend to use the guns for is no concern of yours, can you provide the merchandise or not?" Jasmine was not going to be a push over, his nice suit aside the man before her was, after all, just a gun runner.

"The hardware you're after doesn't come cheap." He pointed out.

"Name your price and I'll tell you if it's acceptable." She responded.

"Alright, 2 million dollars." Santos replied, Colby noted this was said with a straight face, the man was serious. Perhaps crime did pay after all.

"That is not a realistic price for those weapons on the black market. We are not prepared to pay such a high premium." Jasmine didn't bat an eyelid.

"What would you say is a fair price?"

"1 million dollars." She said coolly.

Colby couldn't believe he was sitting here with people discussing such huge amounts of money so casually, this despite being an FBI Agent. Obviously he knew that weapons of this calibre came at a high price, but to hear it discussed so casually was disturbing, even for him.

Derek Santos actually laughed. "I'm a business man, Jasmine, not a charity. 1.75 million." He countered.

"Final offer, 1.5 million." She was not going to be out done on these negotiations.

Santos looked at her thoughtfully. "Alright, Ms Fuller, you have a deal." He said formally, shaking both her's and Colby's hands.

"When can you have them for me?"

"How would 2 days from now be for you?"

"Perfect." She nodded and stood up, signalling the end of the meeting.

Santos quickly scribbled an address down on a piece of paper and handed it to her. "Meet here at 10pm in 2 days. Bring the money, the merchandise will be available for your inspection."

"Very well, see you in 2 days." She took the piece of paper and glanced at it before handing it off to Colby. They were escorted out of the building by 1 of the armed men, in the lobby Colby's gun was returned to him and he happily slid it back into position, then followed Jasmine out of the building to the SUV.

He drove Jasmine back to the warehouse in silence, he had a bad feeling about this, Santos agreed to the price far too easily. Once back at Jasmine's he followed her into the apartment.

"What's on your mind Col?"

"Something's not right, I think it might be a set up."

"That's possible, which is why we're going to that meet armed to the teeth. I don't trust Santos, but I do trust you. I expect you to plan this meet down to the last detail. All the leaders will be at your disposal."

"You're going to go ahead with it?" He asked incredulously.

"We are. Colby, we need those weapons, Santos is the only supplier I've been able to find that can come up with what we need."

"That alone should tell you something."

She eyed Colby, a glint sparking in her eyes. "You want out?" Her voice was laced with menace.

"I didn't say that. I just think we have to balance the risk with the reward."

"The reward is that we get the guns we need."

"True, but the risk is that we find ourselves in a situation that could cost a lot of lives." He was trying to be the voice of reason, but he could see that he was failing.

"Something that anyone who joins a gang has already reconciled themselves with, in that respect we're no different to law enforcement."

"Alright, I'll check the location Santos gave us and put together a plan to allow us the best chance of getting out with minimal casualties if things go south."

"Good. Come by tomorrow at 4pm and we'll all go over it." She dismissed him.

* * *

In a repeat of the previous night Colby called the AD on his way home, he expressed his concern that there was going to be trouble at the buy.

"Sir, I think it's a set up. I believe that 18th Street are using the buy to ambush JK."

"Do you have any proof of that Agent Granger?"

"No, just a hunch. I believe that Jasmine thinks the same, I have to put together a tactical plan which will involve some of, if not all, the leaders. She wouldn't be willing to send them all out unless she thought something major was going down."

"An excellent opportunity to get all of them in one go then. If you can ensure that Goodman is involved in the buy we'll get him too."

"You want me to go ahead with the meet?" Colby was surprised at this, but he also had to admit that it was a great opportunity to get a large proportion of the JK gang leaders out of circulation, one that may not come around again.

"Yes, I do. I'll arrange for back up to be there. Give me the address."

"Sir, how are you going to keep the Captain and his accomplices from finding out?"

"The Chief and I will work it out, don't you worry about it, we'll make sure you have back up."

He was worried, but he had no choice, he would have to trust that the AD would keep his word. He gave Wright the address and time of the meet then hung up.

Wasting no time he then dialled Don's number. The phone barely rang before he answered.

"Colby."

"Hey Don."

"How'd it go man?"

He repeated what he had already told the AD. He was interrupted when he got to the part about it being a possible set up.

"That's it, this time you have to listen to me, you need to get out, and get out now!"

"AD wants me to go ahead with the meet."

"I don't give a shit what he wants. If this is a set up, and it sure sounds like one to me, you'll be caught in the cross fire between 2 hardcore gangs and law enforcement." Don was clearly angry.

"Don, we both know I have to go through with this, it's the best chance we've got to get Goodman. I don't think I've got any choice, I can't let him get away with what he's doing."

"I want you to get over here, to Charlie's, right now, I am not prepared to discuss this over the phone any longer!" Before Colby could protest the line went dead.

Looks like I'm going to Charlie's, he thought to himself, not thinking for a second about disobeying Don's order, even if he didn't technically work for the man anymore. It was getting late and although he knew it was a risk he decided to drive himself over rather than take a cab, it would mean losing whoever was tailing him, but he didn't think that would be a problem, they had been obvious since the moment he had left Jasmine's, clearly whoever it was hadn't been trained on how to trail a suspect, likewise they probably hadn't any idea how to evade either, unlike him.


	14. Plan Ahead

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Numb3rs, a sad fact, but true.**

**A/N: I hope you enjoy, I want to thank you all for your support, reviews, alerts, it is much appreciated.**

Chapter Thirteen – Plan Ahead

Colby easily ditched the tail and headed over to Charlie's. He parked a couple of streets away and walked the last bit to ensure there was nobody else following him, as well as to give him some time to prepare for the coming argument with Don, because he had no doubt that there would be one. He knocked on the door to the Craftsman, it opened and Don stood before him, a look of determination on his face, one that was matched by Colby's expression. He stepped into the house and his heart sank when he saw that Don had rallied support in the form of Liz, Megan, David and even Gary Walker. Despite being sure it was now 5 against 1 he was determined to stand his ground, he hadn't been through weeks of undercover work just to run away from it now, no matter the consequences for him.

"Hey all." He greeted his friends hesitantly.

"Don't even try it Granger!" Megan responded, she sat in a chair with her arms folded, he could tell that she was mad, but he didn't know whether it was at him or the situation.

"Wh…What?" He pulled a face, trying to act like he didn't know what their problem was.

"Get in there and sit down, we need to talk." Don said, indicating the sitting room.

Figuring that he might as well make himself comfortable, he sat down in a chair next to David. All eyes in the room turned in his direction, including Charlie's as he joined them. He remained silent, he wasn't going to say anything else, after all Don had summoned him, so he raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"We've talked about this bud, and we think you should get out, the risk is too great. The AD and Chief are going to arrange to have law enforcement at this meet, though the gang task force have heard nothing." Don looked at Gary for confirmation and received a nod of assent. "If this is a set up as we suspect then 18th Street Mexicali are going to be there as well, that is a recipe for disaster in anyone's book."

"I get that you're worried, but the decision is mine to make. I've put a lot of work into this bust and I can't just throw it all away because of a hunch." Colby looked each of them in the eye to prove how sincere he was in his desire to go forward with this operation.

David leaned forward in Colby's direction, resting his forearms on his legs, he spoke to his partner from his heart. "Colby, we don't want you to do this man. Please listen to what Don is saying, it's not worth your life."

Colby couldn't look David in the eye any longer, he needed to stand his ground and if he looked at his partner, his brother, he may not be able to. "I have to go through with it."

"You don't. We'll get Goodman some other way." Liz tried to reason with him.

"I wish I could believe that, but he's been getting away with this for god knows how long, we let this opportunity pass by now and we may never get another chance." He sighed, resigned to carrying out his duty, as always.

"Let it be someone else's problem then!" Stated Megan, knowing full well that they were wasting their breath. She had known him long enough to know when his mind was made up, his determination had always been one of the things she admired about him. Right now she wished that he was less stubborn. It said something for him that he had been willing to come to Charlie's knowing that he was going to face such opposition to what he wanted to do.

"No way! I can't let someone else go through this when there is a possibility I could bring things to an end in 2 days time. 2 more days, then it's over, nobody else will have to go undercover and put their lives on hold to bring Goodman down."

The next person to speak nearly floored Colby. "He's right you know." Everyone turned to glare at Gary. "Glare away, it won't work on me. Weeks of work have gone into this, not just Colby's but ours as well, even if it wasn't official. You can't ask him to throw away that effort because not one of you would if the roles were reversed. Think about it, if Granger was asking you to turn your back on weeks of work, would you?" He didn't wait for a response to the rhetorical question. "Instead of trying to brow beat the man into quitting, lets help him finish this."

Colby threw Gary a look of gratitude, when he first started this he would never have believed that the man would end up fighting his corner against the rest of the team.

Don looked from one to the other thoughtfully, if he was honest with himself he knew he would never get Colby to back down, pigheaded wasn't used to describe his youngest team member for no reason. Perhaps it had all just been a ruse to see Colby one more time before the operation came to a head, nobody knew what the outcome would be once it was done, the consequences of what he was doing would likely be far reaching.

"Alright, how can we help?" Asked Don.

"I need to put a tactical plan together. Jasmine wants me to plan for all eventualities. I've got the location, can I use your laptop, Charlie, to get an aerial view?"

"Absolutely, lets go through to the garage." They all got up and trooped through. Colby handed Charlie the details and using his NSA clearance he brought up aerial footage of the area from overhead satellites. The location that Santos had picked was a large, new 10 floor office building that was currently vacant, it apparently had a huge underground parking garage where the meet was to take place. The surrounding area was part of a new complex of commercial property, it would be deserted at the time of night the meeting was planned for, all the construction workers having finished for the day. Charlie posited that the 18th Street gang would likely already be inside the building prior to the buy, allowing them to take up positions where they would be best obscured from sight but still able to see the members of JK. The blueprints of the building showed 2 entrances to the garage. They agreed that JK would take the entrance to the South of the building, the FBI would enter from the West. Don was hoping that the AD and Chief would request the gang taskforce to cover the raid, they would know where Colby would enter with the members from the JK gang in advance, though Don had already decided that, whether requested or not, he and the team would be at the buy, he could at least try to minimise the chance of Colby being caught in the crossfire if it came down to it. Charlie had used escape math to identify the quickest ingress and egress for the location. Once everyone was in place the taskforce could place a cordon around the area which would help prevent innocent bystanders getting injured. When they were done Colby looked at the plan and knew that he had been given the best chance possible to pull this off with minimal casualties. Charlie printed a copy off and handed it to him. He turned to the people around him and knew it was time to say goodbye, at least until this was over, one way or another.

"Charlie, thanks for this man, I really appreciate your help." He rested his hand on the other man's shoulder.

"Take these." Charlie handed Colby a tiny button camera and small mike.

"I can't wear those, if I'm searched and they find them then it will be game over."

"They won't find them, the camera looks just like a button, just put it on your jacket. The mike can be tucked behind the camera, it's so small nobody will notice it, even if they pat you down."

Colby didn't want to, but he figured that the team would need to know when the buy was taking place, not to mention they could record it and use it as evidence. He accepted the devices from Charlie who smiled bravely, though it wavered slightly as he thought this could be the last time he saw Colby, even with the plan he'd helped with, the probability of this going wrong was high.

Liz gave him a hug. "Watch your back out there Granger. I want ya back in one piece." She pulled back and looked at him, seeing the look of amusement she added. "Who else is gonna make coffee that melts the pot?" He smiled at that, nobody really liked his coffee.

He looked over at Megan, he held out his arms and she stepped into them, she felt his strong embrace as she squeezed him tight. "Get through this in one piece Colby, or I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Like I'm gonna do anything to incur the wrath of Agent Reeves, not a chance." He gave her a final squeeze before releasing her.

He turned to find Gary holding out his hand, he took it in a strong handshake, hoping he conveyed his appreciation for his support in that one gesture. No words were exchanged between the 2 men, just a look of understanding.

"I'll walk you back to your car." Stated David simply.

Don understood that his 2 agents wanted to have a moment in private. They were all worried but the bond the 2 men had formed over the years they'd worked together was a close one. He smiled at Colby and pulled him into a quick embrace, they patted each other on the back, partly to reassure the other, partly to convey their feelings in a way that words couldn't. "We've got your back." Don told Colby, who simply nodded in response and walked out of the garage with David without looking back.

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, both lost in their own thoughts, all too aware that anything could happen 2 days from now.

"If things look like they're getting outta hand, duck and cover, you hear me?" David said to Colby, his voice husky with the fear he wouldn't speak of.

"Goes for you too dude. No heroics, and keep your head down, don't wanna have to shoot you again!" He received a friendly punch on the arm for that comment.

"Told you, if you do that again I'm gonna shoot right back at ya and I won't miss!"

"Hey, who holds the range record Sinclair?" Smirked Colby.

"You always have to bring that up huh?" David rolled his eyes.

"Either got it or you ain't!"

David snorted. "You've got something alright, an ego the size of the Empire State building!"

As they neared Colby's car he stopped and turned towards his partner. "Take care of everyone David, don't let any of them do anything stupid eh?"

"Don't you worry about us, we'll look after each other, and you."

The 2 men clasped hands and hugged briefly. Neither one mentioned that this might be the last time they saw each other. Colby turned and walked the rest of the short distance to his car alone as David stood and watched him, as in the garage he made a point of not turning back, he didn't want David to see the fear that he knew would be reflected on his face, he got in his car and quickly drove away.

* * *

Don sat at his desk in the bull pen staring at the screen but not seeing what was on it. This time tomorrow the taskforce would be at the location provided by the AD for a weapons buy. He had been summoned to Wright's office almost immediately that morning and was informed that his team and the gang taskforce they had been working with would be participating in a raid the following night at 10pm, he had passed Don the location that Colby had the night before. He had instructed Don to put together a tactical plan along with HRT Team Leader, Tim King. He met with King and went over the plan that Charlie had helped them come up with, the HRT leader nodded his approval, making no changes, trusting in the Professor. He had stayed late finalising all the details, he had no idea how the AD or Chief were preventing Goodman from finding out, he just hoped that however they were doing so was full proof. Logging off his computer, he stood up, stretched and headed home, hoping that he could get some sleep.

* * *

The aerial view and blueprint of the location was spread across Jasmine's kitchen table. Goodman and the 5 other leaders of JK had gone over Colby's plan several times, they had tried to find flaws but not even Goodman had succeeded. Everyone was in agreement that it was solid, Colby then appointed each leader a position, the blueprints showed that there were several positions that the members could take inside to afford them some measure of protection, they just had to hope 18th Street weren't already in those positions, there was 1 area left uncovered.

"Forget something there Col?" Asked Adam.

"Nope, that's where Goodman is going to take up position." Colby stated calmly, turning to look at the man. "Need everyone in on this. I'll be with Jasmine, Adam and Daz, I need someone to lead the rest of the members once we're inside."

Goodman hesitated for only a moment. "Got it." He couldn't exactly decline what he saw as a challenge by Granger.

"Good, nice job Colby. We meet here tomorrow at 8pm, go over the plan one more time then head out." The plan agreed everyone went their separate ways.

Colby called Don on his way back to his apartment. "Don, it's on, Goodman will be there."

"Good job Colb. AD has requested the gang taskforce and HRT."

"King?"

"Yeah."

"Good." There was nobody he trusted more than Don and the team, but Tim King came a close second. "Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Count on it." They kept the call short and to the point, neither wanting to dwell on what was to happen the next night.

Hanging up Colby finished the drive to his apartment, went to the fridge and grabbed a beer. He took a long drink before placing the bottle on the nightstand, he stripped out of his clothes and had a shower, allowing the heat of the water to ease his tense muscles, he remained under the spray until it started to turn cold. Wrapping a towel round his waist he went back into the bedroom and finished the beer. Drying himself off he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, he knew he should sleep but equally realised that it was unlikely he would be able to. He remained staring at the same spot for a couple of hours before giving up, throwing on some sweat pants and a t-shirt, he padded out to the sitting room and turned on the TV. After 30 minutes of aimless channel surfing and finding nothing to hold his attention he turned it off and picked up a book he had been reading before this mess started, it was an autobiography, Buzz Aldrin's Magnificent Desolation. He chuckled to himself, it was Larry's fault he was reading it, his stories of being up in space had intrigued him, especially his reaction to being back on Earth. Sadly, nothing would hold his attention, his mind wandered to the task ahead no matter what he was doing. It was going to be a long night, followed by a long day. At least it would be over soon and then he could look to the future once more.

* * *

The next night, 8pm found an exhausted Colby at Jasmine's going over the plan with everyone again. Each leader had 2 trusted members with them, they had decided that they didn't want too many involved, if it wasn't an ambush they didn't want the heavy presence of JK members to be spotted. Colby was going to drive Jasmine in her SUV, Daz was going to drive Adam in a truck large enough to take the crates of weapons. Once they had driven in the South entrance the others would approach the building on foot and slip in, hopefully unnoticed, to take up the places they had agreed on.

Across town the gang taskforce were already near the office building in the underground garage of the adjacent building, ready to enter the building at speed once the buy was complete, Don was glad that Colby had reluctantly agreed to wear the camera and mike that Charlie had provided, this needed to be timed perfectly. Everyone was waiting for the command to enter the location, the rest of team Eppes, along with Gary, were also there, listening to the reports coming in from the members of the taskforce that were scattered around the complex to watch the area. It was shortly before 9pm when reports started to come in that there was movement. A team watching the front of the building from one located opposite radioed in to say that 2 SUVs and a truck had pulled into the garage and there appeared to be half a dozen occupants, one of the LAPD officers from the taskforce recognised one of Santos' low level lieutenants. Don was barely breathing, it seemed Santos had decided not to risk doing this meet himself, perhaps he knew something was going to happen and he didn't want to be in the vicinity when it did. He threw a concerned glance over the rest of his team, they were all edgy, now just wanting this to be over. Megan opened her mouth to speak, but he would never know what she was going to say as the news that they had hoped they wouldn't hear came in. Known 18th Street Mexicali gang members had been seen approaching the building, on foot, from the rear and were entering via a fire escape, more or less where Charlie had said they would, clearly wanting to be in place before Colby and the JK members arrived. The way that Charlie had set up the positions for the JK members, they believed that they would be able to enter without being spotted, but they would also, initially, not see 18th Street.

Don turned to those near the command centre. "Alright, everyone make sure you have your vests on, I don't want anybody taking unnecessary chances. Once the JK contingent arrive and enter the building the teams round the perimeter will neutralise any gang members outside as quickly and quietly as possible, and HRT will make entry once we hear that money has exchanged hands. Nobody makes a move without an express order from me, Gary or Tim, is that clear?" Murmurs of yes sir echoed round the 2 dozen or so men and women standing before him. Satisfied he turned to speak quietly with Tim.

"You sure about this Don?" King asked, ensuring nobody else could hear him question the SAC.

"Honestly? No, but we have to take them once the buy is complete." He looked at the other man thoughtfully and after a split second of hesitation decided it was time to drop the bombshell and let him know exactly what was going on. Tim King listened attentively whilst Don summarised the undercover operation.

"Alright, so bring down one gang, some dirty cops, prevent an all out massacre by another gang and get Granger out in one piece, whilst making sure none of the good guys get dead? That about sum it up for ya?"

Don had to admit when put like that it did sound like an impossible task. "Er, yeah, think that about covers it."

"Just as well you've got my team in on this then, might actually stand a chance of pulling it off!" He eyed Don carefully, the man looked like he was ready to come apart at the seams, no wonder after the weeks of uncertainty about the future of his Agent. Tim had worked with the Eppes team on a few occasions now and found them to be truly dedicated and extremely close, with the help of his HRT guys if anyone could pull this off then it was them. He quietly gathered his team around him, and spoke with them in a low voice.

"One of our own is going to be in that building, most of you have worked with Colby Granger, all you need to know is things are not what they seem, do not shoot him! You've all seen the blueprints, you know you're jobs, watch yourselves in there." He eyed his team carefully, he was sure Don hadn't wanted him to tell his team, but if they found themselves facing Granger they needed to know he wasn't going to shoot them, because as sure as he was standing there if they came across him and he was wielding a gun they would shoot him to protect themselves and their fellow Agents and Officers.

* * *

It was 10pm, Santos' men were in place, as were 18th Street. There was no way for Don to warn Colby, they hadn't wanted to risk giving him an earpiece, the camera and mike were as far as they were willing to push their luck. It was with trepidation that the Eppes team watched the SUV Colby was driving approach the area. Emotions were running high within the team, the foremost one being fear that something would happen to Colby, their brother, colleague and friend. The adrenaline was coursing through their bodies and they were ready to finish this now. The HRT agents were ready to go and the anxiousness of the Violent Crime Unit's team was coming off them in waves, making HRT exchange nervous glances. Taking a deep breath Don turned his attention to the video feed as he heard Colby's voice through the speakers connected.

"I've still got a bad feeling about this Jasmine, so do exactly what I say, when I say it."

"Whatever, lets just get on with this." She replied ungraciously.

Colby looked at his surroundings, there were 2 SUVs parked at the other end of the garage along with a truck. He had pulled Jasmine's SUV up some distance away, wanting to be able to use the vehicle for cover and possibly escape if the need arose. There were half a dozen men either sitting in the vehicles or leaning against them.

Both Jasmine and Colby, along with Adam and Daz, exited their vehicles, leaving the doors open, but didn't move from the little shelter they provided, waiting for Santos to approach them. When a man split from the group Colby immediately felt all his warning bells go at once. Firstly it wasn't Santos, if this was going to go smoothly, such a large buy would be headed up by Santos, or at least one of his top lieutenants, but he knew that the guy heading their way was way down on the food chain. The second thing to set his senses tingling was a slight movement from behind the vehicles at the opposite end of the structure, it was just a glimpse, but he could have sworn that he had seen a man wearing black trousers and a white top, he knew that 18th Street members often wore that clothing, though common enough attire, he wasn't about to dismiss what he saw just yet. The last thing to get his attention and have him reaching for his weapon was a soft click, to the untrained ear it could have been anything, to him it was the distinctive sound of a safety being taken off on a weapon, this combined with the previous 2 things caused him to get back behind the SUV door and shout to Jasmine, Adam and Daz to get down. His timing was impeccable as suddenly the underground garage echoed with the sound of automatic gunfire.


	15. End Game

**Disclaimer: Numb3rs is not owned by me, but I am a huge fan and love to borrow the characters, make 'em dirty, clean 'em up and put 'em back for others to use!**

Chapter Fourteen – End Game

"Shit! Go, go, go!" Yelled Don over the radio. He jumped onto the footboard of one of the waiting SUVs along with the rest of his team, Gary Walker and HRT and they raced to the building where it sounded like a small war had broken out. Sirens going they entered the garage from the West as previously agreed, this put them out of the direct line of fire, the sight that met them was chaos. 18th Street had the JK members well and truly pinned. They could see Colby crouched by the SUV trying to avoid being shot whilst protecting Jasmine, Adam and Daz. He had always seen his job as a double edged sword, to protect the innocent and the guilty alike. The guilty deserved a fair trial and it was his job to make sure they made it out of this situation alive in order to do that. With the arrival of HRT and the gang taskforce 18th Street divided their attention between their original targets and the new arrivals. Unfortunately for Colby, Jasmine, Adam and Daz it put them right in the middle.

Don jumped off the SUV and took cover behind a pillar, he watched as Jasmine climbed into the SUV, he needed to find a way to get them out of the crossfire. All around him Agents were taking cover and returning fire, they needed to get this situation under control and quickly.

David was horrified by the fact he could do nothing to get to Colby and back him up, he was behind a pillar to Don's right but every time he tried to step out from behind it bullets impacted nearby. No matter how frustrated he was he would be no good to his partner if he got himself shot.

Megan had taken up position on the other side of Don, she too was feeling helpless. Getting Colby out of the middle of this was not going to be straightforward. Then again, since when had anything involving the young man been easy, she thought to herself wryly. They'd get him out of this, then she'd kick his ass for getting in the middle of yet more trouble.

Liz was on the far side of David. She was waiting patiently for Don to give the signal for them to move in. It was hard to just stand there and watch, but if they were to fire then Colby was right in their line of sight. Other agents had a clearer line of sight, so she left them to return fire.

Colby was watching the situation deteriorate before his eyes. 18th Street had obviously not been expecting police, they had probably thought this would be easy, a way to teach others not to step on their territory, they were backed into a corner, forced to fire on law enforcement to enable them to get away. "Get in the SUV and stay down." He instructed Jasmine, staying low he looked over his shoulder to see if Adam and Daz were alright. As far as he could tell they were holding their own, he was pleased to see they were concentrating their efforts on the other gang members and not law enforcement, he would have to intervene if they started firing on his colleagues. He turned his attention back to the fire fight in front of him, it appeared that 18th Street were withdrawing, or at least trying to. The JK members weren't going to let them go, which would be their downfall. He did notice that Captain Goodman was trying to unobtrusively leave the garage. Damn and he couldn't go after him. He wondered if he could get David's attention, he had seen him take up position to his left, he took a chance and raised his head slightly only to have a bullet ricochet off the roof of the SUV. Quickly deciding that it wasn't an option at that moment he was relieved to see he hadn't been the only one to spot the retreating form.

* * *

Lieutenant Walker had instructed one of the Officers driving an SUV to drive alongside him, protecting him somewhat from the gunfire. He got near enough to line the man up in his sights.

"Goodman!" He yelled. "LAPD, freeze, drop your weapon or I will shoot you." There was a significant part of Gary that hoped the man would keep running, give him a lawful excuse for shooting the son of a bitch, he had a witness in the Officer that was driving the SUV. Instead the man turned to face him, shielded from the continuing gun battle by a pillar.

"Lieutenant Walker, lower your weapon, that's an order." Goodman's voice held strong as he spoke.

"I don't think so Goodman. You're under arrest."

"On what charges?" He shouted back, the 2 men could barely hear each other over the noise echoing around the garage.

"Illegal purchase of weapons, conspiracy to commit assault of a Federal Agent and that's just for starters. We're gonna put you away for a long time!"

"It will never stick, you have no proof." Sneered Goodman.

"Drop your weapon, or I will shoot you." Walker could see the man weighing up his options, before he lowered his weapon and placed it on the ground, neither man had registered that the shooting had subsided. Gary walked up to Goodman whilst being covered by another Officer and took great delight in cuffing the other man.

"You've got no proof, I was here because I had a tip from an informant."

"We've got everything we need. An informant of our own." Walker smiled a smile of satisfaction, turning to the Officer he said. "Read him his rights and get him the hell outta my sight." He now turned to survey the scene before him, the new underground garage, in pristine condition just a matter of minutes ago, was now reminiscent of a war zone, seeing Eppes standing not far away he hurried over to make sure there had been no law enforcement casualties.

* * *

Once Colby was satisfied that Goodman was not going to get away he turned his attention back to his immediate surroundings. He had been so busy looking at where Walker was gaining on Goodman that he hadn't noticed an 18th Street member lining him up in his sights. Adam had, he shouted a warning, Colby turned to see the young gang banger running in his direction gun drawn, trying to get a clearer shot, oblivious to the danger he was placing himself in. Daz had seen what was happening and shot the man who had been aiming at Colby, in turn Colby ran towards Adam but before he could get to him the man was knocked off his feet. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion to Colby, he was only aware of the blood blossoming on Adam's chest, he could still hear bullets around him, but they sounded distant, he also heard voices, his name being called, but nothing else mattered at that moment but making it to Adam's side. When he reached the fallen man his eyes were glazed, blood was coming from his mouth. Adam saw him and he smiled, happy to see his friend was alive. He tried to speak.

"No, man, don't say anything, you're gonna be just fine." He used his own body to shield Adam from any further shots, he felt a presence nearby and glanced up long enough to see Daz, he had taken up position in an attempt to protect them. He turned his attention back to the man on the ground.

"Cold." Whispered Adam.

"It's gonna be OK." Colby tried to reassure him, he pulled the younger man to him and held him against his chest, knowing that he was lying. "Hang in there bud."

"Tired, gonna sleep."

"No! Adam, come on, stay with me." He watched in horror as his eyes closed and he took his last breath. He had died in Colby's arms. It was only then that he heard the voices around him. HRT and other law enforcement were rounding up the other JK members, he saw Liz cuff Jasmine and lead her to a car. He was momentarily surprised to see Daz still standing next to him, Tim King by his side, they watched the burly FBI Agent cradling the dead gang banger in his arms. He turned his attention back to Adam. He felt movement and heard a whispered conversation followed by footsteps moving away from where he was knelt on the concrete floor.

"I'm sorry, I should have done more to protect and help you." He said softly, hanging his head.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder and David squatted down next to him. "It wasn't your fault man." The look that Colby gave David caused a stab of pain to his heart. His partner's eyes were filled with pain, exhaustion and guilt.

"I shoulda tried to help him get out."

"He'd been part of a gang all his adult life, it was all he knew."

"That didn't mean I couldn't have tried." Colby sounded despondent. David looked at his friends helpless to know what to say to ease the pain of his brother.

"Colb, you need to let him go now." Don knelt down until he was looking into his Agent's eyes. He needed to get Colby to relinquish the hold he had on Adam's body. "There's nothing more you can do for him, but you can help us make sure that those responsible for his death are brought to justice." He got no response, he had never seen Colby so defeated, not even when he was interrogating him during the Chinese spy affair, he hadn't given up when he returned afterwards and David had been giving him the cold shoulder. Like David he didn't know what to say, he was at a complete loss. Megan beckoned both him and David away. They stood in a huddle nearby, not wanting to distance themselves too far from the troubled man.

"I think we should let Darren try." Stated Megan. "He understands better than any of us the bond Adam and Colby had built up." Once she received nods of agreement she smiled at Darren, who had been waiting silently. He smiled sadly at her and approached the man he had seen become the closest thing Adam had to a real brother.

"Colby?"

"Daz?" He asked, he was unsure as to why the man wasn't in cuffs.

"My name is Darren Fletcher, I'm an ATF agent, I was undercover trying to find out who was supplying JK with weapons and gather intel on those suppliers."

"Oh." Was all Colby could manage, that would explain the lack of cuffs.

"I know that you couldn't help but like Adam, he was a nice guy, but there was nothing you could have done differently." He placed a hand on Colby's arm and waited for him to look up. "You need to let him go now, OK?"

Colby nodded and allowed Darren to ease Adam's body onto the ground and pull him to his feet.

"You gonna be OK?" He asked.

"Yeah. In time. Thanks for everything." He walked away from Darren on wobbly legs, he felt completely drained. The team, his team, were waiting patiently for him.

"You need to get checked out." Stated Megan reasonably.

He looked down at himself, noticing for the first time his blood soaked clothes. "Not mine."

"Still…" Don stopped, the look that Colby was giving him now prevented him from arguing, he didn't want to push him.

"Here." David handed him an FBI jacket which allowed him to remove his blood soaked one at least, though his t-shirt and trousers were still covered. One of the techs appeared as if out of nowhere with an evidence bag in which his jacket was quickly placed. "We'll need the rest of your clothes at some point Sir." The ERT tech advised. Colby merely nodded before David led him to an SUV handing him a towel that a paramedic had given him to allow him to wipe some of the blood off his hands.

"Lets get him back to HQ so he can get cleaned up." Don spoke quietly. "Liz, Megan, I want you to stay here and make sure the scene is secure, then escort Agent Fletcher back to give a statement." He received nods from both female agents, before climbing into the drivers seat of the vehicle where Colby was sitting in the front, staring out of the window. He briefly glanced back at David who shrugged, completely at a loss. Colby was always the loudest team member, laughing and joking, he didn't recognise the man before him, to use a cliché he was a mere shadow of his former self at that moment. Liz and Megan watched them drive off. "Do you think he's going to be OK?" Asked Liz, she had never seen someone so pale and still walking around.

"I hope so, we'll be there for him, support him in any way we can." Responded Megan before turning back to join Agent Fletcher.

* * *

Don, David and Colby arrived in the parking garage. Don got out and was met by David. "Take him to the gym showers, less people about. Put his clothes in evidence bags. I'll go and collect his spare clothes that were taken out of his locker, I've kept his stuff in a box under my desk."

David nodded and watched Don disappear into the elevator. Opening the passenger door he put a hand gently on Colby's arm. "Come on man, you need to get outta those clothes."

He heard David's voice and sighed to himself, exhausted it was all he could do to sit upright, but he forced himself out of the vehicle and dragged himself after his partner.

"You go ahead man, I'm gonna get some evidence bags from ERT." He hurried off, he didn't want to leave Colby alone for too long.

Reaching the showers he turned one on, allowing the water to heat up, eased out of his bloody clothes, leaving them on the floor so that David could bag them, then he stepped into the cubicle and closed the door. The water briefly ran red as he washed Adam's blood off his hands, he closed his eyes resting his forehead against the cool tiles. There had been so much blood, he didn't really understand why this was affecting him so much, it wasn't like he hadn't seen people killed before, in Afghanistan especially, men and women that he thought he'd been closer to than Adam. How did he allow himself to get so close to a felon? What had he been thinking? Sighing he knew that he had really had no control over how close he had felt to Adam, he had kind of reminded him of Dwayne Carter, his old army buddy who had died saving his life. Both men had been adept at getting into trouble and had found themselves involved with the wrong people and he had been unable to save either of them. He heard movement outside the cubicle which broke into this thoughts.

"You alright in there Colb?" Came David's concerned voice.

Colby felt guilty about being the one to cause that tone to enter his partner's voice. "Yeah, I'm OK man." He tried to inject some sincerity into his voice.

"OK, am just gonna bag your clothes and take them to ERT, Don will be down in a few minutes with a change of clothes. Oh, and here's a towel for ya." Colby watched as a towel was thrown over the top of the door, landing half in and half out.

"Thanks." He started to wash himself, practically scrubbing his skin to remove what he thought was the smell of death from it. It wasn't until he was washing his left arm that he felt a stinging sensation. He looked and for the first time saw a gash in his upper arm. Examining it he realised he must have been grazed by a bullet, though he couldn't remember it. The wound wasn't deep and now he had showered it was clean, shrugging he finished washing, rinsed off and grabbed the towel, vigorously drying himself off.

"Colb, I've left some clean clothes on the bench out here for you, I'll be right back."

"Thanks Don." His voice was less shaky this time, much to his relief. Once he was sure that his boss had left he exited the shower cubicle, he didn't want him seeing the wound on his arm and insisting he get checked out, he was definitely not in the mood to be poked and prodded. He quickly got dressed, he had just finished pulling on the clean top, which was thankfully long sleeved, when both David and Don re-entered the room.

"How you doing?"

"Better, thanks." He did actually feel more human, the shower having cleansed his body if not his soul. He was also happy to be back with his team.

"Good." Don paused before saying what he had to. "The AD wants to see you in his office." He had tried everything possible to convince him that Colby needed time to process what had happened, allowed time to rest, but the AD needed to speak with him, they needed to debrief, the Chief of Police was also in his office.

"Don, can't it wait?" David asked.

"It's alright, I want to get this over and done with, get back to normal, whatever that is." Colby's voice had some of his old determination back in it.

"I'll come up with you. David why don't you head back to your desk and start on the paperwork."

"Oh yeah, I get all the good jobs!" David rolled his eyes, raising a small smile from Colby.

* * *

Don and Colby stood outside the AD's office door. Don placed a reassuring hand on his arm, letting him know that he would be right there with him, whether the AD liked it or not. He knocked and entered the outer office where the AD's secretary waved them straight through to the inner sanctum.

Tapping briefly before opening the door, Don ushered Colby in before him. The AD and Chief stood.

"Come in Agent Granger." Wright and Drummond both shook hands with the Agent and nodded at Don. He had already spent some time with them and had made it clear that he would be attending the briefing. "Please, sit down, both of you." Wright indicated a pair of sofas. Don and Colby lowered themselves onto one, whilst Wright and Drummond settled on the other. There was another knock on the door and Agent Fletcher entered, he also received a handshake and was invited to sit, he dutifully sat on a chair that he pulled up from the desk.

"I asked Agent Fletcher to join us, since ATF also had someone undercover, something, I must add, that neither myself or Chief Drummond realised until the SAC contacted us just before this buy." He turned to Fletcher. "Would you like to fill us in on your operation?"

"I have been undercover for 6 months. We were aware that JK were buying up weapons, we just didn't know who they were getting them from. We were about to take Davies when Colby here turned up and made things more interesting."

"Sorry if I messed things up for you man." Colby felt he needed to apologise, he knew how hard being undercover was and he had blown Darren's operation, even if he hadn't meant to.

"No hard feelings. Davies was small fry, when you seemed to incur his wrath we figured that JK would look for another supplier, we had no way of knowing who it would be, but decided we would hang on and find out."

"Did you know Colby was undercover?" Don asked, curious.

"No, but I knew his reputation and I figured it was a possibility. I kept an open mind and a watchful eye." He smiled at Colby. "I didn't want to take any chances, but when the buy was arranged with Santos, I contacted my SAC. He in turn contacted AD Wright, aware that Colby worked for him and if something was going on he would likely know, the rest, as they say, is history."

"Now, Agents Eppes and Granger, can you please fill us in on what transpired at the buy?"

Don spoke before Colby had a chance, taking the responsibility of reporting to the AD from his Agent's already overburdened shoulders. He finished by reeling off the numbers. "14 JK members arrested, including Captain Goodman and Jasmine Fuller, 2 wounded, 1 dead." On the last he paused, he felt Colby tense momentarily beside him. "No 18th Street arrested, 1 dead, 6 of Santos' men are also in custody."

"ATF's best hope of getting a conviction is to get one of Santos' men to turn, I hope you'll allow us to interview them." Darren spoke up.

"Absolutely, full inter-agency co-operation." Assured Wright.

"Go speak to David, he'll arrange it for you." Don stood and shook the ATF Agent's hand. "Thanks for looking out for Colby."

"No problem." Darren in turn reached out and shook Colby's hand. "Take it easy, and remember, there was nothing you could have done. You need anything gimme a call." He handed the other Agent a card with his numbers on. Colby nodded as the ATF Agent left Wright's office and went in search of David.

Once the door had closed Wright looked at Colby. "You've done an incredible job, you'll get your choice of assignments, that I promise you."

"There is only one assignment I want and that is with Agent Eppes and his team." Colby's voice was firm, Don looked pleased, he had hoped that was what his youngest team member would want, but there had been no guarantee.

"I don't think you should make any decisions right now, Agent Granger, you need to give a statement and then I think you need to take a few days off." AD Wright didn't want him making a hasty decision.

"I won't be changing my mind." Colby insisted.

"You do realise that it may not be that simple, don't you? You're going to have pissed off a lot of gang members." Chief Drummond added.

"If that's the case it doesn't matter where I go, they'll find me, in which case I am safer with Don and the rest of the team than anywhere else."

"Colby, listen to AD Wright, you need a few days rest. Sir, does he really need to give a statement now?" It hadn't escaped Don's notice that Colby seemed to be on the point of collapse, he had no idea when the man had last slept.

"Yes, Agent Eppes, he does I'm afraid. Sorry Agent Granger, I know you must be tired."

"It's not a problem." Colby said.

"Good. You can give it to Lieutenant Walker." Chief Drummond advised.

"Yes Sir." Colby took a moment to shake both the Chief and AD's hands again

before going in search of Gary.

**A/N: OK, so may have taken some liberties with the story telling here! Chapter would have been up last night, but I ended up working for 20 hours straight due to 7 inches of snow here in the UK so was asleep when I would have been posting! Hope you continue to enjoy. Thanks once again for all your support. x**


	16. Stubborn

**Disclaimer: Nothing has changed in the time that I have been writing this, I still don't own the brilliant Numb3rs.**

**A/N: Guess I should have made it clear that the last chapter wasn't the last one! There are still 3, maybe 4, chapters left in the story.**

Chapter Fifteen – Stubborn

Lieutenant Walker watched the man sitting across from him, they had just finished going over his statement. It had taken the best part of 2 hours. There had been a couple of times that Gary had thought Colby was going to drop his head on the table between them and fall asleep right there. He understood the desire to get the statement from the FBI Agent as soon as possible, so it was all still fresh in his mind, but they could have given him a few hours to rest, he also had a feeling that the young man wouldn't forget any detail of the past weeks for a long time. Colby wearily signed his name to the bottom of the statement before sliding it back over to Walker.

"Can I say something?" Asked Gary.

"Not like I can stop you." Colby gave him a weak smile.

"You've done a great job of providing the proof we need to get Goodman, the surveillance footage we accumulated whilst watching the other LAPD Officers will provide further proof for their prosecution. That aside I wouldn't underestimate the affect of what you've been through, I know you've done undercover work before, but it doesn't get any easier. If you need to talk, give me a call."

Colby looked momentarily surprised, he had always respected Gary, the man was a force to be reckoned with. The words of support meant more than Gary could know, especially at that moment. "Thanks Gary, I appreciate the offer."

"I mean it. Now, go find Don and get outta here. You need some rest, you look fit to drop where you stand."

"I'm OK." Colby said dismissively. He didn't want a big fuss, if he was honest he didn't think he'd be able to sleep, no matter how tired he was. The events of the past 2 days just kept looping in his mind.

Gary didn't look convinced. "If you say so, still you're done, get outta here!" He watched him get up and leave the interview room they'd been sitting in sincerely hoping that the agent would be able to cope with the consequences that were inevitably going to come back to bite him on the ass.

* * *

Colby found himself standing looking at his empty desk, once again it had been cleared of all his belongings. He had a distinct feeling of déjà vu, the only difference this time was that his team had known things weren't as they had appeared. Of course the other teams in the office hadn't known and he had received some curious glances from other agents who were still around at such an obscene hour of the night, or was it morning, as well as a few outright hostile ones.

"Granger!" A voice called across the office. He looked up to see Tim King approaching him. "How ya doing man?"

"Better for being back here." He smiled at the HRT leader.

"Well just wanted to let you know it's good to see you back where you belong." Tim clapped him on the back, nearly knocking him off his feet.

"Oi, King, watch it! That's my partner you're trying to floor." David came to stand beside them.

"Sinclair, at least you have someone back on the team who's a decent shot!" Tim winked at Colby before leaving them to it.

"Oh, that's just plain ole nasty." David sputtered at Tim's back, a grin splitting his face. Turning to his partner he gave him the once over. "I think you'd better sit down, Don will be back in a minute, he's just handing his report over."

"I just wanna get outta here." As great as it was to be back in the office he felt like a caged animal right at that moment.

"We need to sort out a place for you to stay bud. You can't go back to your place yet, the techs want to do a sweep of it, remove all the bugs. Don said something about sorting you out a hotel, paid for by the FBI no less."

"That won't be necessary." Charlie had walked up behind them. "You can stay at mine, for as long as you need to."

"Charlie, what you doing here? It's gotta be about 4am." Colby was surprised to see him.

"Actually it's coming up 5am, and I'm here checking on Don. Our Dad can't settle unless he knows he's alright when he knows a raid is happening." Charlie shrugged, if he was honest he was as guilty of that as their Dad.

"Er, heard of a phone Charlie?" Asked David.

"Dad insisted on coming down, he's hunting Don down as we speak. Now back to my original point."

"A hotel will be fine, I don't want to put anyone out."

"Nonsense, Charlie is right, you will come back and stay with us for a few days, we won't take no for an answer."

"Mr Eppes, I mean, Alan, that's very kind of you…."

"What part of won't take no for answer didn't you understand young man?" Alan raised an eyebrow, daring Colby to argue again.

"Oh, Colb, you've done it now, that's his don't argue voice, nobody has ever managed to win once he uses that!" Chuckled Don who had joined them.

"I don't know what you're being so smug about Donnie, we're taking you back home as well." Not quite done with his surrogate father role, he turned to the remainder of the team. "David, Liz and Megan, get out of here now. Lieutenant Walker just told Don that you've all filed your reports and are done." The whole of team Eppes just stood with their mouths hanging open, part of them wanted to protest, all of them wanted to ensure Colby was OK and they had things they felt they should be doing, but the other part was tired and wanted out of the office to get some sleep.

"Mr Eppes is correct, all of you, go home now. I don't want to see you back here until Monday, any of you!" AD Wright had been speaking with Lieutenant Walker nearby when he had heard Alan's instructions. The team had just been given 3 days off, they all exchanged glances and quickly grabbed their stuff before the AD could change his mind. He shook his head in amusement as he watched them scurrying about, before turning and heading back to his office to finish up before heading home himself.

"Come on Colby. Lets get you back to the house." Don smiled at him.

"I could do with getting some stuff from my apartment."

"We can drop by on the way, I checked and it's OK as long as you're not staying there." Don replied before ushering Colby out of the office ahead of him. Alan and Charlie bringing up the rear as they made sure all of the team left.

* * *

"Right, in you go Colby, Don." Alan stood back after unlocking the door to permit the tired Agents to enter before him. "Go sit yourselves down and I'll get some breakfast organised."

Too tired to argue Colby did as he was told, seating himself in one of the rocking chairs, dropping his bag that he'd collected from his apartment by it. Don followed suit. "When did you last sleep Colb?" He asked gently.

"What day is it today?" He asked, only half joking. "Must have been Tuesday, maybe even Monday."

"Man, you need to eat and get to bed!" No wonder his agent looked dead on his feet. Both men sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. That is exactly how Charlie found them 10 minutes later.

"Don, Colby, breakfast is ready."

They both got wearily to their feet and followed Charlie through to the dining area where Alan had toast and cereal ready, he figured that neither man would want anything too heavy. Colby slowly ate a couple of slices of toast and drank a glass of orange juice, the last thing he needed right then was coffee.

"Why don't you boys head off to bed?" Asked Alan. "Colby, the solarium is ready for you, Don, your room is ready too."

"Yeah, that's not a bad idea, I'm getting too old to pull all nighters!" Don stood up, yawned and stretched. "Come on Colby." He encouraged the younger man.

He got up and followed Don, stopping briefly to pick up his bag from the sitting room. They trudged up the stairs, when they reached Don's room, they paused.

"I'm glad you came out of this in one piece bud."

"It's not over yet though, is it? Got the court case to come, but it's good to have the undercover stuff over."

"We'll be with you, to support you, when this goes to trial, you know that." Don reassured him.

"I know, thanks man." Colby smiled, his gratitude for the support genuine. "Get some sleep, you look like hell!"

"Hey, take a look in the mirror… On second thoughts, don't, otherwise you'll have to pay Charlie for the one you break!" Chuckled Don. "Night Colby."

"Night Don, though I think that should be morning!" He wandered down the hallway. Entering the solarium he placed his bag on a chair, he looked round, the room had windows down the full length of 2 sides, it was light and warm. The sofa bed had been made and a small bedside table with a lamp on stood next to it, not that he needed it since the sun was up. He lay down on the bed, fully clothed and stared at the ceiling, as tired as he was his mind would just not switch off, every time he closed his eyes he saw Adam's pale face, the life draining out of them. He sighed and turned over onto his side so he was staring out of one of the windows, he lifted his head and punched his pillows before dropping it back down. He wondered if he would ever be able to close his eyes without seeing Adam's face again.

Colby had been laying either staring up at the ceiling or out the window for 4 hours, he had thought about getting up but knew the others in the house were sleeping and he didn't want to disturb them.

A short time later he heard movement in the house, then the front door closing. He got up to see Charlie and Don getting into Charlie's hybrid car, probably heading to the FBI offices to pick up Don's car, he remained standing looking out the window, watching the world before him continue to turn despite the sadness he was feeling. He had no idea how long he'd been standing in the same spot, but the front door opened and closed again, Alan Eppes came into view, got into his car and drove off. Colby was alone in the house, he was relieved to be alone, even if it was just for a little while, maybe he'd be able to get his head together knowing that there was nobody nearby, nobody who would look at him with sympathy or worry, no pressure to act like he was fine. He decided that he'd have a shower, maybe that would help him relax and feel more human, grabbing a change of clothes and the towel that Alan had left for him he headed to the bathroom. He turned the shower on and peeled his clothes off, cringing slightly as he pulled his top away from his wound on his left arm, it had obviously been weeping slightly and the top had stuck to it. Climbing under the warm water he let it cascade over his muscular torso, wincing as the water ran over his wound. Suddenly he was feeling like his legs wouldn't hold his weight much longer so he quickly washed, turned off the shower and dried himself off. Throwing on jeans and a loose, but long sleeved, top he wandered back through the house and to the solarium. He folded his dirty clothes and placed them in a pile on a chair, looking around he noticed that the day was sunny, deciding that perhaps some fresh air would help he padded back out, walking out the back door to the garden. As he walked across the grass it was pleasantly cool on his bare feet, lowering himself on to the bench under the shade of a tree near the koi pond he took a deep breath, he just sat and watched the fish swimming, listened to the birds singing and thanked whoever was watching over him for once again sending his team to pull him out of the metaphorical fire, there was no doubt about it, no matter what he had been through, he was thankful he was still alive, even if at that moment he didn't feel particularly fit and healthy, in fact now he thought about it he was getting the makings of a blinding headache, most likely thanks to the lack of sleep. Deciding it was time to try once again to get some sleep he pushed himself up and took a few steps towards the house, all at once he realised that the last few days were going to catch up with him in a big way as the world started to tilt and a wave of nausea and dizziness hit him, before he could take the few steps back to the bench his legs buckled and he collapsed in a heap on the grass. Laying there he hoped the world would quit spinning but he found he was out of luck, the feeling was one he would later liken to being on a boat in extremely rough seas and then docking but still feeling like you were being tossed around, he closed his eyes in an effort to regain his equilibrium. He didn't know how long he lay there before he heard a car door and voices, all he knew was he needed some help to get back to his feet, having tried a few times he had only succeeded in making his head throb and the dizziness worse with the effort, but he didn't think he had the energy to call out.

* * *

Don pulled into the driveway of the Craftsman behind Charlie, after a brief discussion earlier that afternoon he had decided to stay with his brother and father for a couple of days, he wanted to keep a close eye on Colby. They had dropped by his apartment and he had picked up some clean clothes, then Charlie had dropped by the office so he could pick up his car. No sooner were they out and Don was grabbing his bag than their Dad drove up.

"Hey Donnie, Charlie. You both manage to get some sleep?"

"Yes Dad." They chorused, smirking at one another.

"Come and help me with the groceries." He ordered, rolling his eyes.

"Whoa Dad, how many people you planning to feed?" Charlie's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the trunk full of bags.

"Colby needs feeding up, he's lost a lot of weight." Alan stated indignantly. "Plus Donnie looks like a good meal wouldn't go amiss. I also thought it might be nice to have everyone over for a BBQ one evening. It will do Colby good to be surrounded by family."

"You know Dad, I think that's a great idea! Why don't we go in and see if he's up, then we can get it organised?" Suggested Don. His Dad had a big heart and the way he treated his Agents like surrogate children filled Don with pride. Juggling his bag and some groceries he followed his Dad and Charlie into the house, putting the bags of food down on the kitchen counter he then headed upstairs with his bag and to check on Colby. Knocking on the closed solarium door quietly, he waited a moment before opening it, surprised to see the bed empty, he quickly went back downstairs and checked to see if he was in the bathroom, that too was empty. Hurrying back into the kitchen he almost collided with his brother.

"Don, watch what you're doing would ya!" Charlie said crossly, then caught the look of concern on his brother's face. "What's wrong?"

Alan turned to see what the problem was and also noticed the look on his eldest son's face. "Donnie?"

"Colby's not in his room, or in the bathroom."

"Well the house isn't that big, he can't have gone far. Why don't you check the garden, Donnie. Charlie, check the garage." Both his boys hurried to do as he had suggested.

Charlie reached the garage and found no sign of Colby, he wasn't really surprised, the garage was his hideaway, the place he came to think, he didn't think it was the agent's type of retreat. He turned and headed back to the house.

Don stepped out into the garden, as he came round the corner of the house towards the koi pond he noticed Colby's prone form, his heart plummeted and then rose into his throat in a split second. "Dad, Charlie!" He yelled running to his friend's side. "Colby, can you hear me?" He was relieved to get a groan in response. Charlie and their Dad appeared next to him, both having heard his shout.

"Oh god, is he alright?" Charlie couldn't see any signs of an injury.

"I'm fine." Came the weak response from Colby.

"Son, you don't look fine to me." Alan knelt next to him, placing a cool hand on his forehead. "You're burning up!"

"Call an ambulance." Instructed Don.

"No!" Weak or not, Colby didn't want to go to the hospital.

"Whaddya mean no?" Asked an incensed Don. "You collapse in a heap in our garden, you're running a fever, I'm no doctor, but we need to get you checked out."

Charlie let his comment about it being their garden slide, Don was obviously very worried. "What happened Colb?" He asked gently, always wanting more information before making the appropriate decision.

"Dizzy, headache, collapsed." Colby replied succinctly.

"Ambulance!" Insisted Don.

"No!" Colby was still stubborn.

"Alright, enough!" Alan decided it was time to intervene. "I have a suggestion. Lets see if we can get you up and back into the house, I want to take your temperature, then we'll make a decision about hospital or not, OK?" He glared at Don, not wanting him to argue, he also felt that Colby needed a hospital, but if he was so against it then a compromise would be best, for the time being, both men nodded their agreement, though one nod was less noticeable due to the throbbing pain in Colby's head.

Don and Charlie helped Colby sit up, they paused to allow him a moment to get used to the change in position, then, with some effort as Colby was no lightweight, they helped him to his feet. He swayed but after a brief moment managed to find his balance and they walked slowly back to the house, Don and Charlie either side of him, with Alan bringing up the rear in case of a stumble. Once back inside they assisted Colby into a chair whilst Alan went to get the thermometer, popping it in the sick man's mouth. Moments later he was looking at the reading and he didn't look happy. "It's 39.5C, Colby that's way too high, any idea what might be causing it?" He watched as the man carefully shook his head.

Don placed his hand on Colby's upper left arm to get his attention, unfortunately he put his hand right on the wound he knew nothing about, causing Colby to emit a yelp. He raised an eyebrow in his Dad's direction and quickly rolled up the sleeve on Colby's top, the sight that met his eyes caused him to lose his temper. "Why the hell didn't you tell someone that you'd been shot? It looks infected, what were you thinking?"

Colby had the good grace to look embarrassed at his deception, though at the time he hadn't done it for any other reason than he didn't want a fuss, now he was getting that and then some!

"Donnie, calm down, you're not helping." Alan tried to soothe. He understood why Don was angry, if Colby had told him then he might not be sick now. "Colby, you're going to have to go to the hospital."

"No ambulance." Colby managed to say.

Don turned, exasperated. "You're temperature is serious, do you understand?" He looked at Colby, not understanding why he was being so stubborn about the ambulance.

"I'm not that sick, I'll agree to go, but only if someone drives me." One of these days this stubborn streak was going to get him killed and right then it looked like Don would be the one to do it.

"Fine! If it means you'll go without any further arguments." Don responded, it didn't really matter how he got there, as long as he did.

The 3 Eppes men all ended up accompanying Colby to the hospital, apart from the fact that they all wanted to ensure he was alright there was the practical problem of getting him from the house to the car and then car to the hospital entrance, he wasn't a small man and he was too tired to walk unaided. They decided to take Don's SUV, figuring it would be easier for Colby to get in and out of. Don drove to Alhambra Hospital Medical Centre, glancing over at the sick man next to him every now and then, wondering at the stupidity that led him to keep his injury, then the fact he wasn't feeling well, to himself.

**A/N: In case I don't get a chance to post another chapter in the next couple of days…. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR! May 2010 bring all your dreams to fruition. (Including a 7****th**** Season of Numb3rs!) **


	17. Treatment

**Disclaimer: No, Santa didn't bring me Colby and nor did he change ownership of Numb3rs to me. Dammit!**

**A/N: Merry Xmas all, wanted to post another chapter as a thank you for your lovely reviews. It will be a couple of days before the next one. Enjoy!**

Chapter Sixteen – Treatment

Don pulled up to the doors of the hospital, as near as he could possibly get without causing an obstruction, leaving the SUV running he got out and went inside briefly, returning with a wheelchair which he pushed to the passenger side door. Charlie and Alan also got out of the vehicle, ready to help if needed. Colby's face dropped when he saw the chair, a picture that, under different circumstances, Don would have loved to have to bring out for blackmailing purposes at a later date. Instead of sharing this thought he simply glared at his agent, daring him to argue. Realising that this was one battle he wasn't going to win, Colby, with Don and Charlie's assistance, managed to get into the wheelchair, saving his strength for later battles, like not staying in this hospital for any longer than it took to get checked over.

"Dad, you guys take him in, I'll go park and come right in." Don instructed, he watched as his Dad took charge of the chair and pushed an unhappy looking Colby through the ER doors. The man should be grateful that it was his Dad pushing the chair, considering how Charlie's driving was it could be entirely possible that his brother would have crashed Colby into the doors, causing further injury. Once he'd parked he walked back towards the hospital entrance, pulling out his cell phone on route.

"Sinclair."

"David, it's Don."

"Oh hey man, sorry didn't even look at the phone before answering. What's up?"

"Well, let me just say that Colby's OK." He hedged.

"Don? What's that supposed to mean?" David didn't like where this conversation was going.

"That stubborn partner of yours neglected to tell us that his left arm had been grazed by a bullet last night."

"Damn, how bad is it?"

"The wound would have been fine if he'd had it looked at last night, but nooooo, not Colby, he didn't tell anyone, it now looks like it's infected. Oh and to top it off, he wasn't feeling great, so rather than telling someone decided to go for a walk in the garden when we were all out and collapse!" Don was clearly still exasperated by Colby's behaviour.

"Where is he now?"

"Dad took his temperature and it was 39.5. We wanted to call an ambulance, but as usual Colby had other ideas so we compromised and I've driven him to Alhambra Med. I just parked the car and am heading in to make sure he hasn't attempted to wheel himself home!"

"Wheel himself home?" David queried.

"Made him get in a wheelchair to get from the car into the ER." Don said with some satisfaction.

"Oh man, wish I'd been there to see that!" Chuckled David. "Look, I'll call Megan and then I'll head over, you'd better get in there!"

"Alright, see you soon." He hung up the phone and entered the ER, to find that, although Colby hadn't tried anything quite as drastic as wheeling himself home, he was telling a nurse that he really didn't need to see anyone and that everyone was fussing about nothing. His Dad tried to intervene, but for once was unsuccessful, Charlie just stood not quite knowing how to get Colby to listen. Don took a deep breath and strode purposefully across the waiting room. "Agent Granger!" The sound of his authoritative voice stopped Colby in his tracks. "You will let this nurse do her job. Do not presume that you know better than the medical staff." He glanced at the nurse who looked taken aback at this turn of events. Don moderated his tone slightly. "You had a temperature of 39.5 and collapsed, that is not something to be ignored. Please, your arm needs to be checked."

The nurse thought that Don's request was perfectly reasonable, apparently the man in the wheelchair didn't agree, since he gave the most adorable pout and then started explaining why he felt that he didn't require medical attention.

"I was just tired Don, that's all, I haven't slept for a couple of days."

"Uh huh, more like 4 or 5 days, and what about that arm?" Don raised an eyebrow.

"Hadn't long had a shower, must have irritated it with the soap or something." It sounded lame even to his own ears.

"Well if that's all it is then you won't mind letting the staff check it out." Don said reasonably.

Damn, Colby thought, he found it hard to fight Don when he used that annoyingly reasonable tone, it was nearly as bad as Megan, though not quite. "I wouldn't want to waste anyone's time."

"Colby…" Don's patience was wearing thin.

"Granger!"

Colby groaned when he heard the familiar voice of Special Agent Megan Reeves ring across the ER waiting area, he knew he was sunk.

"You will damn well do what you're told. I can't believe you were so stupid as to hide a gunshot wound from us, no matter how minor you thought it was!" She turned to Don. "David called and I was on my way to Charlie's to see how he was doing." She waved in the general direction of a cringing Colby. "When he told me where you were I was only a few minutes away." They both turned towards the unfortunate Colby, both had their arms crossed and looks on their faces that told him it was useless to argue.

"Alright, alright! You 2 ought to be ashamed of yourselves, ganging up on a wounded man."

"Oh, now he's wounded, just because it suits him." Megan rolled her eyes. "Take him away nurse."

The nurse had watched the exchange with some amusement, the 4 people standing about obviously cared very much about the man in the chair. "Come on Agent Granger, lets get you into a hospital gown."

David entered the ER in time to hear the nurses comment and laughed at the disgruntled look on Colby's face. Despite the fact his partner looked very pale it was good to see that he still had some energy left in him. Colby managed to shoot him a quick glare before being pushed into a nearby curtained area.

"Right lets get this top off and get you into a gown, the doctor needs to be able to see the wound properly." The nurse bustled about getting Colby settled on the bed and removing his top, which had once again stuck to his wound, she shook her head at her patient before helping him into a gown. "Now you lay back, that arm definitely looks infected, the doctor will be along shortly."

Realising there was little choice in the matter he laid back against the bed, the nurse had obviously spoken to his team as they all appeared at the partially opened curtain, along with Alan and Charlie. "Guys, you don't all need to be here. Why doncha go home, I'm fine." He hated the fuss.

"Not going anywhere dude, gotta make sure you do as you're told." Smirked David.

"Yeah and that'll take all of us." Chimed in Megan.

"Well at least don't keep hovering." He insisted.

Alan, noticing the discomfort of the younger man decided to intervene. "Leave the man alone, lets all go to the canteen and get coffee." He suggested.

"You all go, I'll stay here and make sure he behaves himself." David replied, ignoring the glare he was receiving from his partner. Don and Megan trailed Alan and Charlie out of the ER, they thought they'd teased him enough, after all they were genuinely worried about him.

David sat in a chair next to the bed. "Why didn't you tell us man?" He asked softly.

"I dunno, guess I didn't want a fuss, it didn't look like much and I didn't actually notice it until I had a shower. Everything the last weeks has been dictated by other people and events, I felt outta control of my own life."

"So you thought not telling us you'd been shot was a good way of exerting some control?" Asked David incredulously.

"Yeah, see, now you put it like that it does sound stupid!" Admitted Colby, albeit reluctantly.

Before David could respond a doctor appeared. "Agent Granger?" Receiving a nod she entered, followed by the nurse from earlier, she pulled the curtain closed behind her. "I'm Doctor Harris, I understand you have a gun shot wound, a temperature and have been dizzy and nauseous?"

"I'll wait outside." David quickly spoke up.

"Nah, you can stay." Colby looked at his partner. "Please man." David nodded and sat back down. Turning his attention to Doctor Harris. "That about covers it."

The nurse took his temperature and blood pressure, making a note of it on a chart that had been started. She advised the Doctor, who was examining Colby's arm. "OK, lets get an IV started." Glancing at her patient she explained "You're dehydrated, I take it you haven't been eating or drinking properly?"

"Haven't really had time to think about it." He decided honesty was the best policy.

Shaking her head she continued. "Are you allergic to any medication?" Receiving a response in the negative she turned to the nurse. "Make that IV one with penicillin, this wound is definitely infected. I'll clean it up, at least it doesn't require stitching." The nurse left to sort out the drip, the Doctor inserted a cannular in the back of Colby's hand ready, she then proceeded to clean the wound with antiseptic, causing the large man in the bed to wince in pain, but she was pleased that he hadn't protested about her treating him. The nurse had told her to prepare herself as the man hadn't wanted to be treated until his colleagues had ganged up on him, finishing cleaning the wound she put a light bandage on it. "There, that should start to feel better quite quickly." She finished her examination. "When did you last sleep?"

Colby glanced at David, he couldn't lie, he was bound to speak to Don, then he'd be in even more trouble. "Really sleep, for more than a few hours? Probably about a week ago."

"Alright, you're suffering from dehydration, an infection in that wound and exhaustion. Your collapse earlier, the temperature, nausea, dizziness are all symptoms, your body's way of telling you enough is enough. I'm admitting you for the night."

Opening his mouth to protest he was cut off by David. "No arguing man, you gave Don, Alan and Charlie a pretty bad scare this afternoon, it's time to start thinking about how you're being so stubborn affects other people." He smiled to take the sting out of his words.

Pushing himself into a sitting position he was going to try to reason with David when the room started to spin again. "Lay back down Agent Granger." Doctor Harris gently, but firmly, pushed him back against the bed. She had watched what little colour her patient had drain from his face.

"Alright." He sighed, accepting the inevitable. "One night right?"

"As long as you do as you're told and get some rest, that's all it should take for you to at least to start feeling better, then we can release you into the care of your friends."

She left to sort out getting Colby admitted as the nurse was setting up the IV with antibiotics.

"Good decision." Stated David.

"Uh huh. Couldn't face you all nagging at me!" Colby gave David a tired smile.

"We only nag 'cos we care, as cliché as that sounds man."

"I know. It's been a hard few weeks, not able to spend time with you guys, Sam or Jenny. Having to deal with Jasmine again, that woman is insane! I had hoped never to see her again, now if she pleads not guilty, I'm gonna have to testify against her." He didn't relish the idea of facing any of the gang in court, but especially Jasmine. Still, it was part of his job and he'd do anything to ensure that she stayed behind bars for a long time.

"I'll be there if it happens bud." David assured him.

"We all will." Megan stated from where she was standing at the opening in the curtain. Colby looked so tired, pale and older than his years at that moment. She would have given anything to protect him from all he had been through and she knew Don, David and Liz all felt the same. David had called Liz, she was spending the weekend with family whilst she could, he had told her that he would let her know how Colby was doing as and when they had news. She told David to tell his partner to behave himself and not to give the nurses a hard time. Sentiments which he had passed on to a mildly amused Colby.

An orderly appeared just then with a wheel chair. "Your carriage awaits!" Quipped David. A nurse took down his IV, assisted him into the chair, the change of position once again making his head swim.

"Deep breaths Agent Granger." The nurse coached, she waited for him to indicate that he was ready, she then instructed the orderly to take him up to the medical floor. "Room 301." They all trooped out after them, following upstairs to make sure he was settled. Once up on the third floor they waited outside the room whilst the nurses helped him into bed, just getting in and out of the chair had taken the last bit of Colby's energy, he had never felt so weak, a feeling that he resented.

"You can have 5 minutes then he needs to get some rest." Instructed the nurse from the medical floor.

"Hey Colby, we're being kicked out in 5 minutes. Anything you need?" Asked Don.

"To get outta here." He mumbled in reply.

"Not a chance." Responded Megan, a small smile on her lips.

"Can't blame a guy for trying." Colby said.

"Oh, you're trying alright!" David chuckled.

"Son, don't be giving the medical staff a hard time. Get some rest, if you're no better in the morning you'll be staying longer." Cautioned Alan.

"I know, look I'm really sorry about all this. Shoulda said something."

"Don't worry about that now, the main thing is you're in the best place now." Assured Alan.

"Right, we best get outta here before that nurse comes back. Sleep well Colby." Charlie rested a hand on the man's shoulder before leaving, he was glad to see that he was no longer fighting being kept in. The others all followed suit, saying goodnight and promising they would see him tomorrow.

"We'll take good care of him." Promised the nurse, seeing their worried faces. "I'll call you if there's any change."

"Appreciate that." Said Don, handing her one of his cards, David and Megan did the same.

She watched as they left, smiling, they were clearly close with the man in the room behind her. Entering the room she saw her patient laying staring at the ceiling. "You know, you need to close your eyes before you can actually sleep."

"Every time I close my eyes I see…. Well, let's just say I see things I don't want to." He ran a hand over his face.

"I can get the doctor to prescribe something to help, if you'd like."

"No, thanks, I'd rather try to get some sleep without any drugs." He smiled, letting her know he appreciated her concern.

She leaned over and turned the bedside light off and moved the call button nearer to his hand. "If you change your mind, press that button. No getting out of bed unaided either, call if you need anything."  
"Yes ma'am." Colby closed his eyes as she left. Checking in on him 15 minutes later she was pleased to see that he had drifted off to sleep, even though he seemed restless, it was a start.

* * *

Don was woken by the sound of his cell ringing, he groped for the bedside light, glancing at the clock as he did so. He groaned when he realised it was 2am. "Eppes."

"Agent Eppes, it's Sally, the nurse from Alhambra Med…"

Don sat bolt upright, suddenly wide awake. "What's wrong?" His heart was racing.

"Sorry to call you, but Colby is in some distress but won't let us sedate him, we're hoping a friend can calm him down…"

"I'm on my way, I'll be there in 15 minutes." He hung up, threw some clothes on and hurried out as quietly as possible so as not to wake his Dad and brother.

Arriving at the hospital he ran up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator, mildly out of breath when he reached the floor Colby was on, he immediately spotted a nurse walking quickly towards him.

"How is he?" He asked anxiously.

"Not good, he was sleeping then suddenly woke screaming, he pulled out his IV and won't let us put it back in, he won't let any of us near him." Sally supplied all the information she knew, they had been unable to find out what caused the man to wake in such a manner. Don followed the nurse to the room, a doctor was standing outside, helpless to do anything to soothe his patient.

"Colby?" Don stood in the doorway and spoke quietly. His agent, his friend, turned to look at him, his eyes wide with fear. Whatever had woken Colby it must have been a major dream for him to be in this state. "It's me, Don. Can I come in?" He kept his voice calm and quiet, receiving a nod from the distraught Colby he stepped closer to the bed. "Wanna tell me about it?" Colby shook his head. "Come on, you have to talk about what's bothering you man. Look at you, you're on edge, not slept in days, if you talk about it that may help." Don encouraged him gently, wondering if he should call David. Once again Colby shook his head. "I'll be back in a minute, alright?" Not waiting for a response he left the room and called both David and Megan, he needed reinforcements, if Liz was about he would have called her too. He hoped that between the 3 of them, though, they'd be able to draw out of Colby what was causing him such distress.

Twenty minutes later they were all standing in Colby's room, the change in him since they had seen him mere hours ago was astounding. Yes, he had been pale and exhausted, but he was in control. Now he was wild eyed and mute, it was almost like he didn't realise they were there, except he responded to them with a nod or shake of his head.

* * *

Colby had woken from a nightmare, one that had shaken him to his very core. He sat bolt upright, despite the room spinning. He didn't recognise where he was, looking at his hand he saw the IV line and freaked out, he yanked it out. A nurse ran into the room, took one look at him and called for assistance, she was quickly followed by another nurse and a doctor, they approached the bed cautiously. "Colby, you're in Alhambra Medical Centre. You're safe." Soothed the nurse, Sally. He shook his head, holding it in his hands.

"Get me a new IV cannular and 10mg of diazepam. The doctor tried to approach him, to reinsert the IV, then he could give the man the sedative. Colby yelled at him before he even got near him. "NO!" The doctor, not wanting to cause his patient any further distress backed away, indicating that the nurses should follow him. "Do you have any emergency contacts for this patient?" He asked Sally. She nodded and left to make the call.

Sitting upright in his bed, his head felt fuzzy, he now knew he was in hospital but he was still illogically scared, he knew he was safe, but he couldn't shake the feeling of fear that had suddenly overwhelmed him. Of course he'd been afraid before, but nothing like this, he didn't understand it, he was too strong to let fear reduce him to a bag of nerves… wasn't he? Don came in and asked if he wanted to talk about it, all he could do was shake his head, he just couldn't bring himself to voice his fear, mainly because he wasn't sure what it really was. The next thing he knew David, Megan and Don were all standing near him, trying to reassure him but not crowd him at the same time.

David moved forward and Colby allowed his partner, the man he thought of as his brother, to place a hand on his shoulder. "Talk to us man. We wanna help, but can't if you don't talk to us." David coaxed. Looking at him Colby's eyes were full of fear and confusion, it tore at David to see him in this state, he looked at Megan for help.

Also moving closer Megan bent down to bring her face level with Colby's. "We're here, you talk when you're ready, OK?" With that she pulled up a chair and rested her hand on his. Don and David took the hint and also just sat, letting their presence calm their friend.


	18. Friends Rally

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Numb3rs. *sigh* Still love the show and characters.**

**A/N: Was supposed to have this chapter up last night, but after a member of the team I manage went sick I ended up doing another night shift, so apologies for the delay, hope you enjoy.**

Chapter Seventeen – Friends Rally

Three friends sat and watched another fighting with his emotions. None of them could get a word out of him and just sat quietly, allowing Colby to marshal his thoughts. Megan felt his hand tighten round hers and looked up, her eyes misted with tears of compassion. Normally the strong silent type this situation had to be hard on the younger man, never one to express his feelings and here were his 3 closest friends waiting for him to open up to them.

"Every time I close my eyes I see Adam, dying in my arms." His voice was barely a whisper. "I keep having the same dream over and over. Dwayne and Adam standing side by side, reminding me I failed both of them."

"Oh Colb, you didn't fail either of them, both men chose their own paths." Megan lent forward, encouraging him to look her in the eye.

"I feel like there was more I could have done." He sighed.

"Like what?" Don demanded to know, he couldn't let Colby continue to beat himself up like this, he knew that the man laying in the bed before them had done everything he possibly could, short of giving his own life, which had he been able to Don was sure he would have, but the situation had not allowed for that scenario, much to the whole team's relief.

"I should have prevented Adam from going to the meet. Refused to become a triple agent to protect Dwayne."

"If you hadn't agreed to help Counter Intelligence, they would have found someone else at least you were there for him, as much as you could be."

"David's right, and you couldn't have kept Adam from going to the meet, it would have roused suspicion. You were doing your job." Don pointed out. "You give 110% every day, don't underestimate your impact, but don't overestimate what you can do, some things are out of your control. You can't be everywhere at once man."

"I know." Colby replied, a little calmer. Feeling a failure was not something he was accustomed to. He had been lucky in that the things he had chosen to do in his life he had been relatively successful in. Wrestling, the Army, CID and then the FBI. He wasn't in it for accolades or to wield a gun, he wanted to protect people from the bad things in the world. Dwayne had been a good buddy during their time in Afghanistan and he had failed to see the mess he was getting himself in until it was too late to stop him. He had a chance to rectify his mistakes with Adam, but had once again failed to protect someone. The guilt had finally overwhelmed him, this was something he wasn't ready to fully admit to right at that moment.

"You do a damn good job Colb, but you can't protect everyone all of the time, anyone in our line of work has to face that truth." Megan said softly, it was almost like she had read his thoughts, he didn't need to tell her that it was more about his guilt than anything else, he didn't realise it, but it was written all over his face for the people that knew him best to see.

"Dwayne died to save your life, he valued your friendship more than his own life, don't take that away from him. Adam did the same. It's no different to what you would do for any of us, or us for you." David reasoned.

"Look, you need to get some sleep bud. You're exhausted and you can't work through this until you've had some rest."

"Yeah, I know." Colby was resigned to needing time to resolve how he was feeling, he knew that he was not done talking, but he was beyond exhausted now.

"Will you let the doctor reinsert the IV and give you something to help you rest?" Don rested a hand on Colby's. When he received a nod he quickly left the room in search of the doctor. Moments later the doctor arrived, inserted a new cannula and administered the diazepam, he carried out his task in silence, aware of his patient's still fragile state. Nodding at Don he left the room, he had no doubt that Colby's friends would ensure he got the help he needed to see him through this.

Megan continued to hold Colby's hand. "Close your eyes, someone will be with you when you wake up."

He gave his team a small smile before making himself more comfortable and closing his eyes, allowing the medication to help him drift into a restful sleep, something he had been unable to do for some weeks.

* * *

Colby woke, slightly fuzzy headed and disorientated. He glanced round the room to see David asleep in a chair next to his bed. He shifted position, trying to get more comfortable, laying looking at the ceiling he sighed quietly.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"David, sorry bud, didn't mean to wake you."

"I was only dozing." He replied, stretching.

"Uh huh, that's why your mouth was open and you were making little snoring noises and drooling!"

"Oh no I wasn't! Anyway, don't change the subject! What was the sigh for?"

"Just wondering how long I'm gonna have to stay here."

"Don't be so impatient" Scolded David gently. "The doctor will be round again soon, he was here earlier but you were still out of it and he didn't want to disturb the sleep that you so desperately needed. How ya feeling?"

Colby thought about the question for a moment, wanting to give an honest answer and needing time to assess how he felt. "Yeah, better. Still tired, but my head isn't hurting anymore and I don't feel sick."

"Well that's good to hear Agent Granger." A doctor stepped into the room. "I'm going to examine you and we'll see how you're really doing."

David excused himself, leaving his friend in the capable hands of the doctor and Sally, the nurse that had been taking care of Colby since he had been admitted. The doctor wasted no time, he examined the wound on his arm, whilst Sally took his temperature and blood pressure. The rest of the examination consisted of a light being shone in his eyes, questions and general poking and prodding. To his credit Colby took it without complaint, despite the discomfort it caused. The doctor took the chart from the nurse who then left to admit David back into the room.

"What's the verdict Doc?" Asked Colby, unable to wait quietly any longer.

"Your wound is still inflamed, but a course of oral antibiotics will resolve that in a week, as long as you keep it clean. Your temperature is still elevated at 38 degrees. Everything else seems to be fine."

"What does that mean?" He asked impatiently.

"Well if you promise to take the antibiotics, the complete course mind you and monitor your temperature then I will discharge you. In order to keep your temperature dropping you need to ensure you're staying hydrated and resting. Remember this has been your body's way of stopping you in your tracks and making you rest. If you don't listen then next time you may not be so lucky."

"I'll ensure he gets some rest and takes his meds." David assured the doctor.

The doctor nodded and removed the IV from the back of Colby's hand. "OK, I'll go and sign the discharge papers whilst you get dressed." He said, leaving the room.

Colby sighed in relief and eased himself slowly out of the bed. David got his clothes and left them on the bed before going to wait outside.

An eager Colby was dressed and ready to go in minutes and joined David outside the room. The doctor handed over the papers for Colby to sign and a prescription for antibiotics, whilst issuing instructions. "1 tablet, with food, 3 times a day. If your temperature rises again then you must come back immediately. Is that clear?"

"Yes Doctor." Colby murmured. He watched as an orderly arrived with a wheelchair. "Really? Do I have to?" It was merely a token protest, because it was expected of him, he didn't care how he got out of the hospital, as long as he did.

"Yes, Agent Granger, you do, or I'll tear up those discharge papers." Responded the Doctor with a smile. Sighing Colby lowered himself down with David's help, thanked the medical staff and was wheeled out. David went to get his car whilst the orderly waited with an impatient Colby, they got him settled in the front seat, David turned to thank the orderly before getting in the drivers seat.

"Home?" Asked Colby hopefully.

"Ha, no chance, back to Charlie's. I'm under express orders, and I always obey an order."

"Er, that ain't true man, I've heard you argue with Don." Snorted Colby.

"Who said anything about Don?" David asked.

"Megan?" Colby guessed.

"Uh huh."

"Charlie's it is." Acquiesced Colby, knowing when he was beaten. He rested his head back and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep for the rest of the journey.

"Yo, man, wake up, we're here." David nudged Colby gently.

"Dude, sorry, didn't mean to nod off." He stretched and yawned.

"Don't apologise, it's gonna be a few days before you're less exhausted." David got out of the car and went round to the passenger side and opened Colby's door.

"I'm not totally incapable David, I can get out of the car myself." Griped Colby.

"Not going to incur Megan's wrath by letting you face plant on the driveway man!"

This received an eye roll from Colby, but he allowed David to assist him to get out of the car and up to the front door where Alan was waiting to admit them, having received a call from David letting him know they were on their way. Alan herded them into the sitting room where Colby was gently pushed into a chair. David handed over the antibiotics he had picked up and told Alan what the doctor had said. Alan went into the kitchen and came back out with a sandwich, a drink and Colby's medication, he was trailed by Don and Megan, also carrying plates with sandwiches.

"Hey Colb, you're looking a little better, how ya feeling?" Megan eyed him carefully.

"Still tired, but feeling better, thanks."

"Up to eating something?" Asked Alan, receiving a nod he handed the younger man the sandwich and a glass of OJ, placing the tablet on the table next to him. "You can take that when you've eaten."

Colby smiled. "Thanks Alan."

The others sat down to join him, they all ate in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable, just relaxing and companionable. Finishing his sandwich Colby, took his pill and finished his OJ. He leant back in the chair and closed his eyes, suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion once more. Don was the first to notice that he had drifted off. Standing up he knelt down in front of him.

"Colby." He said quietly, he got no response. "Colby!" He repeated a little louder.

"Huh?" Murmured Colby.

Don smiled to himself. "Why don't you go up to the solarium and lay down, you'll be more comfortable."

"Hmmm, yeah, maybe you're right." Responded Colby tiredly, he really needed to sleep. With Don's help he managed to pull himself up out of the chair and make his way up the stairs, he closed the door behind him and collapsed on to the bed without bothering to undress, he was fast asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

* * *

Sitting back down with David, Megan, his Dad and Charlie, Don took a deep breath, one of relief to have his agent and friend back with them where they could keep a close eye on him and hopefully help him understand that he had not failed anyone and there was nothing for him to feel guilty about.

"What are we going to do Don? How are we going to help him get through this?" David asked, he needed to do something, Colby had always been so strong, whenever any of them had needed his support he had given it willingly and without question, he wanted to return that.

"If I may?" Alan had been watching Colby and then the rest of his son's team carefully and he felt he needed to say something. When they all turned to him he carried on. "All you can do is wait for him to be ready to talk, then listen. It's not rocket science, but you can't push him to talk before he's ready or he'll clam up, and that won't do him any good." He looked pointedly at his 2 boys, who promptly exchanged looks that said. 'We don't do that'.

Megan chuckled, knowing that both the Eppes 'boys' were not good at letting people know what was going on in their heads, in fact Colby had been the only one who was able to help Charlie when he was shot at whilst assisting with a case. "We'll do whatever it takes." Everyone murmured their agreement with her statement.

* * *

That evening Alan knocked on the solarium door, he knew that Colby needed to rest, but he also needed to eat and take his medication. The doctor had been quite firm with his instructions regarding what to do if the man's temperature crept back up as well. "Colby?"

"Come in." Came the mumbled response.

Balancing a tray in one hand Alan opened the door to find a sleepy eyed Colby looking in his direction. When he realised that the older man was holding a tray he shook himself and started to get up.

"No, no. Stay where you are I've got this." He waved his hand. He allowed the door to close behind him and waited for Colby to sit himself up. "Years of practice when Donnie or Charlie were ill." He smiled.

"You don't have to wait on me Alan." Protested an embarrassed Colby.

"There's an ulterior motive." He placed the tray on Colby's lap, there was a bowl of chicken soup, some fresh bread, a glass of water and his antibiotic, he waited whilst Colby settled the tray and then withdrew a thermometer from his pocket, causing the man he intended to use it on to chuckle.

"Dirty trick!" Holding the tray meant he couldn't fend Alan off.

"But effective!" Smiled Alan as he put the digital thermometer in Colby's ear.

"How am I doing?" Colby wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer, he certainly didn't want to end up back in hospital.

"Down slightly at 37.5C, so what you're doing is helping, just keep it up. So, eat!" Instructed Alan, leaving him to it.

30 minutes later Colby was finished, he put the tray to one side, eased himself off the bed, picked the tray back up and took it downstairs.

"What do you think you're doing out of bed?!" A strident voice called to him as he walked towards the kitchen, causing him to stop instantly. He turned to find Megan leaning against the archway from the sitting area glaring at him.

"Er, bringing the tray back down?" Colby responded tentatively.

"Give that here and get yourself back up those stairs and into bed..." When he didn't immediately respond, she crossed her arms and glared at him. "NOW!"

Deciding he wasn't really in a position to argue with her, he quickly handed the tray to her and hurried back towards the stairs, the laughter of David, Don and Charlie followed him, he turned to glare at them only to catch Megan standing tapping her foot waiting for him to go back up to his room.

"I'm gonna go check that he hasn't climbed out the window to get away from Megan!" David said, still laughing. He knew that sometimes Colby needed a bit of a stronger hand to get him to do something, and that Megan had been partly messing with him, but he thought he'd check on his partner anyway.

"Megan, we're trying to bring his temperature down, not cause it to rise!" Laughed Don.

She shrugged, grinning, unrepentant. "It worked didn't it, he went back up to bed?!"

Knocking on the solarium door David entered without waiting to be asked, he found Colby sitting on a chair staring out the window looking up at the stars that he could see on the smog free night. He turned when he heard the door open and smiled when he saw it was David, he had been worried that it was going to be Megan checking that he'd got back into bed.

"Don't jump man, it's not that bad!" Quipped David, causing his partner to chuckle.

"You think? You try being on the receiving end of Megan's mother hen routine!" Colby rolled his eyes.

David perched on the end of the bed so he could really look at the man sitting in front of him. There were dark circles under his eyes and though he was smiling and talking there was little enthusiasm and no light in his green eyes. "Seriously, how ya doing?"

"Hanging in there, just trying to take one minute at a time." Colby gave a slight shrug of his shoulders.

"You know, you can talk to me about anything, any time right?" Asked David.

"I know man, thanks, but I don't think I'm ready just yet."

"Alright, well whenever you are." David gently rested his hand on Colby's shoulder to emphasise his point. He realised that his friend had really had enough for the evening. "Come on bud, why don't you get back into bed?"

"Yeah, think I will, but might actually get undressed this time!" Colby pulled himself up, which was David's cue to leave. Once he had left Colby pulled off his clothes, folding them neatly on a chair, another thing left over from his days in the army, then climbed under the covers and fell asleep.

* * *

For 3 days Colby had been confined to the solarium, only allowed to come out long enough for a shower and the odd meal, his temperature was now back to normal, though he was still feeling tired after doing the smallest tasks.

The afternoon of the fourth day he had gone to lay down, he had found an hour of sleep in the afternoon, though making him uncomfortable when Alan was still up and doing things, helped him feel alert enough to share an evening meal with the Eppes'. He was fast asleep and didn't even hear the knock at the front door, or the quiet footsteps coming up the stairs, nor the tentative knock on the door. The door squeaked slightly as it was opened, finally making it through Colby's subconscious. Turning over to face the door his eyes widened as he took in who was standing in the doorway.

"Can I come in?" Came the quiet request.

"Of course you can." He replied, smiling, sitting himself up against the back of the sofa bed.

The little girl climbed up on the bed next to him. He stared into the innocent, wide blue eyes of Jenny Knowles.

"Where have you been?" She asked, no accusation in her voice, just a simple question, but it pulled at Colby's heart strings.

"I was working, doing something that meant I couldn't see you and your Mom." He said gently.

She paused, looking at him thoughtfully. "You've been poorly." It was a statement and he nodded. "You're better now though?"

"Getting there, yes." He smiled.

"You look sad."

Damn, there she goes again, he thought, picking up on the slightest thing and voicing her thoughts without any preamble. "Well, I guess I am, a little."

"When I'm sad Mom gives me a hug. Would you like a hug?"

Feeling a lump rise in his throat at the offer, he merely smiled and nodded. Kneeling on the sofa bed Jenny put her arms round Colby's neck and gave him a hug. He put his arms around her back and just held her.

The simple gesture of the 8 year old child did what nobody else had been able to do, it unblocked the dam of his emotions and tears rolled down his cheeks as the wall he had set up round himself fell down.

**A/N: This one was a bit sappy, I love exploring the softer side of Colby, almost as much as I love putting him in jeopardy and getting him out of it, with the help of the team of course! The sappiness was also assisted by watching a marathon run of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. What? I can't help it, I'm a big softie! **

**There is 1 more chapter to wrap this story up.**


	19. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Numb3rs. Since Santa didn't manage to get me it or Colby for my Christmas present perhaps the Easter Bunny will oblige!!!**

**A/N: Last chapter. I have really appreciated the reviews, alerts and messages I have received. I enjoyed writing this and hope you enjoyed it as much.**

Chapter Eighteen – Epilogue

"Mom!" Jenny ran down the stairs of the Craftsman like the devil himself was after her, giving the Eppes family and team a bit of a fright, as well as reminding Alan what it was like to have a youngster run down those stairs.

Alarmed Sam ran to her. "Jenny, what is it?" Kneeling down she looked at her daughter's horrified face.

"Colby… I, well, er, I made him cry!" The little girl threw her arms round her mother.

"Oh sweetheart, I'm sure you didn't. Why don't I go up and see him? You stay here with Mr Eppes, OK?"

Receiving a nod from Jenny, she gently pushed her daughter into the outstretched arms of Alan. He took the clearly upset little girl through to the sitting room where the rest of the team were watching. He sat down and pulled Jenny to sit on his lap. "What happened?" He asked softly.

"All I did was sit on the bed, I said he looked sad and that Mom gave me a hug if I was sad and did he want one." The words rushed out in a torrent. "He nodded and I gave him a hug, the next thing I know he's crying. What did I do wrong?"

"Oh Jenny, you did nothing wrong." Megan assured her. "I think you actually helped him."

"I did?" Jenny gave Megan a look that said she didn't believe her.

"Jenny, he's been poorly and he has really missed you, he was probably glad to see you and couldn't stop himself from getting all upset, I am sure he'll be fine once he has spoken to your Mom." She had a strong suspicion that Jenny had set Colby down the road to a full emotional recovery, just by that one simple gesture. Children had a way of unlocking doors that nobody else could, purely by an innocent gesture.

* * *

Sam stood in the open doorway of the room that Colby was in. He clearly hadn't heard or seen her approach. He was sitting with his knees drawn to his chest and his head resting on them. His shoulders were shaking. Entering the room, she pushed the door closed behind her, the sound causing him to lift his head, the pain and tears that she saw on his face caused her to gasp. Don had told her a little of what he had been doing, she had no idea that it would cause the man to unravel so completely. He dropped his head back to his knees and groaned, clearly embarrassed at being caught in such a state. Moving quickly to him, she simply sat and pulled him into her arms, cradling him against her body as he struggled to get his emotions back under control. "Shhhh, it's going to be alright." She continued to murmur and stroke his back, helping him to calm himself. Some time later she felt him start to relax, and his breathing become more even. Loosening her hold on him, she peered down into green pools filled with the remnants of tears he had shed.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry." He was mortified at such a complete breakdown. "Jenny? Is she alright?" He suddenly remembered the look of horror on her face when she had realised he was crying.

"Just fine. Worried about you."

"I can't believe I did that to her, all she did was give me a hug!"

"Colby, I think it was probably more what she did to you, or rather for you." At the inquiring look she received she smiled. "A child has an uncanny knack of getting to the heart of the matter, everyone has been walking on egg shells around you, not sure how to help, not wanting to upset you. Jenny just saw someone that needed a hug. Sometimes it's the simplest things that release us from the stoic front we put up."

"I saw her trust in me reflected in her face. The same trust I saw in Dwayne and in Adam's eyes. I let them down, they lost their lives, I can't let her trust me like that."

"Colby Granger, don't be an ass! I wouldn't trust anyone more than I trust you with my daughter. I know that you would protect her with everything you have, including your life. You can't always be successful at protecting people, especially those that have chosen a life that, by its very nature, is risky. All anyone can do is try, and Colby, you, Don, David, Megan, Liz, all try your hardest, every damn day!" She looked at him, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. "Look at me damnit!"

He forced himself to look into her blue eyes, there was no recrimination there, just sincerity, honesty and the look of someone that trusted him whole heartedly. "Thank you." He said softly.

"Anytime, though, it would be great if you could give your team a break and stay outta trouble for more than a few days!" She smiled.

"Hey, that's not fair! Not like I do it on purpose!" He put his arms around her, hugging her close to him. When he let her go, he gave her a gentle push. "Now get outta here, I need to get dressed and come downstairs, assure Jenny that I've not turned into a watery pool."

Smiling, she left him to gather himself. He would need some time alone to let what she had said sink in, but she was in no doubt that his road to recovery was fully under way.

* * *

Colby got dressed and sat on the chair in the solarium, looking out into the distance. His head was feeling a bit achy from all the pent up emotion he had released, but he really did feel better. He needed to give some thought to his friendship with Sam and Jenny, but that was for another day, when he didn't feel like he'd been through the wringer. Getting up he headed downstairs, there was a little girl that he was very fond of that probably needed a hug of her own right now.

Getting to the bottom of the stairs he was met by Jenny running to him and throwing her arms round his waist. Smiling he released her grip and hunkered down. "Hey sweetie. Thanks for the hug."

"You OK?" She asked, her eyes searching his for any sign that he was upset with her.

"Absolutely." Pulling her into his arms he picked her up and carried her through to the sitting room where 9 pairs of eyes turned on him all with varying degrees of concern, the rest of the team had been rejoined by Liz. Larry and Amita had also arrived. "Gangs all here then." He commented, a bit uncomfortable under their scrutiny.

"Can't leave you for a couple of days without you doing something stupid, can I Granger?" Asked Liz, happy to see him with her own eyes and see that he was more or less in one piece.

"Like to keep you on your toes!" He responded.

"OK kids, who's up for a BBQ?" Alan stepped in before things could get out of hand. He was met with eager agreement from everyone so they all went into the back garden. Colby offered to help Alan, only to be told that he was still supposed to be resting and he had best sit his backside down. About to protest he was surrounded by Don, David and Sam, who herded him away from Alan to a seat.

"Alright, how long am I going to have to put up with this?"

"With what?" Asked David, his brown eyes wide and trying to look innocent, whilst filled with mirth.

"You know what, the mother hen routine!" Said an exasperated Colby. He had been resting without complaint, so surely they could stop with the continual coddling.

"Lets see, you have 3 more days of antibiotics left, once you can stay awake longer than a newborn baby we might let up!" Don chuckled at the look of discomfort on his agent's face.

Jenny watched the exchange with some puzzlement, the humour a little bit beyond her years, but she could tell that Colby was no longer upset, which was all she cared about. Once more climbing onto his lap and chattering away to him about school. The others drifted away and started a game of basketball, allowing him some time with Sam and Jenny.

After another superb Alan Eppes meal, they all sat relaxing. Colby sat quietly, listening to the ebb and flow of the conversations around him. Eventually the inevitable restlessness over took everyone and once again another game of basketball was in progress, this time both Sam and Jenny joined in. Alan started to clear away, a task which Colby insisted on helping with, not wanting to make him feel like a spare part, since he couldn't join in the basketball game, Alan grudgingly allowed him to help clear the table. Once the task was complete and he was loading the dishwasher, Alan once again ushered him back outside.

He sat in a recliner watching the antics of the others, frustrated that he couldn't join in, but knowing that, thanks to his friends he would soon once again be fit enough to be back at work and taking part in basketball games with them, or any other off duty activities. His mind drifted to Dwayne and Adam, he silently thanked them for saving his life and allowing him to carry on doing what he loved. There were still some bumps in the long road ahead of him, he needed to find a new apartment, sooner rather than later, sure that he would no longer feel safe in his current one. He had been told that Jasmine had pleaded not guilty, so he would have to face her in court at some point, though Goodman had wisely cut a deal for his part, which would mean him also testifying against her. Colby didn't understand why she was pleading not guilty, but whatever the reason, he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that the people with him right now would be there for him when it came time to face it all again.

His last remaining concern was what the other gangs were going to do. Both Sean and Josh had been left out of the buy so had not been at the meeting with Santos' men, they had gone back to their own gangs, or so Gary had told him when he dropped by yesterday with Daz, or Agent Darren Fletcher, that would take some getting used to, he thought. ATF had a good case against Santos' thanks to one of his lower lieutenants deciding that witness protection would be preferable to prison. Darren had returned to his unit and was happy to have the undercover work behind him. Colby felt like he had made another friend in the man, someone who had been there with him, lived it and understood. Gary had assured him that the gangs were so busy fighting over the territory left by JK that he would be the least of their worries for now, but the Organised Crime and Gang Units would continue to keep an ear out for any threats against Colby. Maybe he was mad to return to Don's team and stay in LA, but he wasn't going to let anyone push him into leaving the family he had built up around him, especially not any criminals.

Turning his attention back to the game, he smiled. For the first time since Adam had died in his arms he felt like he would be alright and it was thanks to the men and women here, something he would never forget. Suddenly deciding that he was tired he closed his eyes and fell asleep to the sound of his family's laughter.

**THE END**

**A/N: Well another story finished. I found this harder than the first, this one needed more research though. I do have another story floating around in my head, but perhaps I should give Colby a break for a while, 'cos it seems he is destined to get into trouble, with a little whump, whenever I write a Numb3rs story!!!**

**Thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you enjoyed it.**


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